


Security

by eastallegheny



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-01-19 23:56:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 48
Words: 75,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1488925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eastallegheny/pseuds/eastallegheny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is how it starts: with a friendship that insists on becoming more.</p><p>EDITED. Mature scenes have been removed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own these characters, but boy, I wish I did. I'm just borrowing them to tell a story, and I promise to put them back safely when I'm through. 
> 
> Harrison is mine, and any and all Unsubs are the product of my imagination. 
> 
> This fic exists in a time outside of what's been shown on TV, so there are no episode related chapters. JJ met Will but was decidedly less than charmed by him, so as cute as Mekhai Andersen is, there's no Henry in this fic.
> 
> EDITED 12/18/15  
> I have removed the adult scenes that necessitated the Mature rating. I've never really felt comfortable writing those types of scenes. They've never felt natural, or like they flowed. Removing them was the right choice for me. Perhaps, with that unpleasantness out of the way, I might be able to update this work soon.

It was late by the time they got back to the BAU. Another case solved, another serial killer behind bars, and countless lives saved from his particular brand of brutality.

Emily had worried the entire time they had been in Oregon. Firstly, she'd worried because the victimology on this case had been startling. Every one of the eleven victims had borne a striking resemblance to JJ, and they had all been painfully aware of the fact, even if none of them had said it out loud. Emily herself had been moments away from whispering in Hotch's ear, asking him to send JJ home and get her away from the danger, when there had been a break in the case and they'd been off, speeding to catch the guy.

The second reason Emily had worried, was because it was painfully obvious that JJ hadn't slept for most of the time they'd been away. The dark circles under her eyes were a stark contrast to her peaches and cream skin. She'd been a real asset though – she'd worked just as hard as the others, and in the end it had been her takedown. After rolling with the guy down a short incline, she'd ended up more or less on top with her gun leveled right at him, giving Hotch a chance to cuff him. But JJ's little journey down the hill had led Emily to the third reason she was worried. Every time the jet hit a pocket of turbulence and jostled her, the blonde had winced. It was plain to see – to Emily, at least, a professional behavioral analyst – that she'd injured herself in some way wrestling with the Unsub. Perhaps she'd pulled a muscle, or strained something. Whatever it was, she was clearly in pain.

Dumping her go-bag by her desk, Emily slumped in her chair and laid her head on her arms for a moment as she waited for the guys to file out one by one. Hotch holed up in his office, which wasn't a surprise, but Reid, Morgan and Gideon all murmured goodnights as they went their separate ways. That just left Emily and JJ in the bullpen, and JJ looked like she was about to drop.

"Hey," she said lightly. "C'mon. I'm taking you home."

"What?" JJ asked, failing to stifle a huge yawn. "No, I'm okay."

"You're not okay. You're exhausted, and in no fit state to drive. If I let you get behind the wheel of a car right now, Hotch might even have me charged with reckless endangerment."

It was a testament to how tired JJ really was that she didn't put up more of a fight, but within minutes the two of them were in Emily's SUV headed away from the BAU. It took JJ a while to realize that they weren't going the right way to get to her house.

"Hey… you missed the turn," she said, voice thick with fatigue. Emily smirked.

"I feel like a slumber party," she said simply. "So I'm kidnapping you."

Again, it was easier just to give in than try to resist. Twenty minutes later they pulled into Emily's building and got into the elevator. Emily led JJ into the bedroom and dumped their go-bags in the corner. "Take off your shirt and lay down on the bed," Emily ordered, in a tone that brooked no argument, and JJ did as she was told, though she shot Emily a very strange look.

"What are you doing, Emily?"

"I'm going to fix your back. You're clearly in pain." After grabbing a bottle of her favorite lavender and chamomile scented lotion out of the bathroom, Emily came back to the bed and looked down at the scene in front of her. JJ was stretched out on the bed in nothing but her bra, head pillowed on her arms. Gently, Emily gathered her hair and tied it in a rough ponytail so that none of the lotion would get in it, then poured a generous amount in her hands and got to work.

She started with the base of JJ's spine. She dug her thumbs in deeply, working the tense, tight muscles as skillfully as she knew how. "Jesus, Emily!" JJ yelped. "Not so hard, that hurt!" But Emily didn't stop. She leaned forward, speaking right into JJ's ear.

"Do you trust me?"

JJ nodded wordlessly, though there was a trace of doubt on her face. Taking her lack of protest as permission, Emily continued. She took her time, making her way up JJ's back and finishing with her shoulders and neck, working out every kink and knot on the way. Before long, JJ's yelps and protests had turned into sighs, moans, and… "JJ, are you purring?"

JJ was completely boneless in her relief and relaxation, her eyes barely open. Emily's hands were magic, she decided. She hadn't felt this good in… she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this good. And the older woman hadn't stopped touching her. Instead of the firm, deep massage now there were just gentle caresses, up and down her back. "Where did you learn that," she slurred. "God, that was better than sex."

Emily let out a peal of laughter, leaning back down to talk in JJ's ear again. "You can't have been having very good sex then. C'mon, Miss Jennifer, up with you. It's time for bed. The guest room is right next door."

"I can't move. Staying here," JJ mumbled. "Deal with it."

With a sigh, Emily climbed off the bed, grabbing her pajamas and making for the door. "All right, bed hog. I'll take the guest room."

JJ reached out a hand. "Stay?"

A few hours later JJ woke with a start, realizing that she wasn't alone in the bed. There were arms around her, and there was warm breath on the back of her neck, and she still felt all relaxed and loose from the massage earlier. It took her a couple of moments to remember where she was, and then she had to smile. So Emily Prentiss was a nocturnal snuggler, was she?

Experimentally, JJ moved forward slightly, only to have Emily grumble lightly in her sleep and pull her back, until JJ's back was flush against her front, their legs tangled together, and Emily's face was buried in her neck. With a sleepy smile, the blonde settled back into her bed mate. It wasn't as if it meant anything, and frankly it was nice, to have someone there with her as she slept. Neither she nor Emily had had anyone to come home to in quite some time, and JJ for one had been getting tired of an empty bed. She closed her eyes, hands clasping over Emily's where it lay on her stomach, and went back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

In the morning, as was her custom, Emily awoke before the alarm and felt her face flush bright red when she felt how close the blonde was. Somehow in the night JJ had turned to face her, and now they were snuggled together almost like lovers might. JJ's face was buried in her chest, and she was clutching a handful of Emily's tank top. Emily smiled, a wave of unexpected affection washing over her. Carefully, she reached out for her phone, snapping a picture of the peaceful blonde for future reference.

"JJ?" she said quietly, gently shaking the younger woman. "C'mon, Jay, it's time to wake up. We have to go to work."

"Nngh, don't wanna," JJ mumbled before waking up properly. She stiffened then relaxed again, looking into Emily's eyes shyly. "Hey," she whispered.

"Hey," Emily whispered back.

"So… this is new."

Emily shrugged. "We're friends. It was a slumber party. It's not that out there."

JJ pondered this. "Last night… that was incredible, that massage. I don't think my back has ever felt this good." Even as she spoke, Emily's hand was starting to unconsciously caress the younger woman's back. "And then… the sleeping, I haven't slept that long or that well in months. Thank you."

"Hey, it's no problem. What are friends for?" Emily asked. "I'll even let you have the shower first, that's how good a friend I am."

Reluctantly, JJ got up, heading for the bathroom and leaving Emily alone in the bed. For a long moment, she just lay there, staring up at the ceiling. As much as she had played down the intimacy they'd shared, she couldn't deny to herself that she'd liked it… a lot. She'd never really been the kind of person who had friends who were that close, but somehow JJ had managed to worm her way in. And she liked that.

They drove in together in silence, neither bringing up the previous night, and went their separate ways once they entered the bullpen. But there was a slight bounce in JJ's step that hadn't been there the day before, a glow to her skin, and somehow, even her hair seemed brighter.

Garcia was the first to notice. Under the pretext of confirming some information for a report, Garcia called JJ down into her lair and all but ambushed her, shutting the door behind her. "Okay girl. Spill it."

JJ looked confused. "Spill what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, I'm not blind. You totally got some last night, didn't you?" Garcia was practically wriggling with excitement. JJ laughed, blushing slightly.

"What kind of girl do you think I am? I'm not even seeing anyone," she deflected, but Garcia could sniff out deception and just raised an eyebrow. JJ laughed harder. "Okay, okay, it was Emily," she admitted. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but there wasn't any "getting some" last night. She drove me home because I was too exhausted to drive, and I fell asleep in her bed."

Garcia was still skeptical. "Well then why are you strutting around here like you've just had all your cobwebs blown loose? I told you, I'm not blind. What's really going on?"

Sinking into a spare chair, JJ sighed. "I pulled something wrestling with the Unsub and she gave me a backrub. And she's really, really good at it," she said, in a tone that invited no innuendo. "I think maybe she learned it in France or Italy or something, from an actual masseuse. At first it was really painful, but then as she kept going it started to feel really, really good, and by the time she was done I was practically comatose. That's it."

With a thoughtful murmur, Garcia regarded the smaller woman. "Maybe I should ask her for one," she said. "You know my neck and back get plenty achy working down here in the lair."

"Maybe," JJ said with a shrug, exiting quietly.

* * *

 That night it was just the two of them alone in the bullpen again after everyone had left, and JJ found herself approaching Emily this time. "Hey, so," she said awkwardly. "I wanted to thank you for last night… seriously, I've had so much energy today, just from that sleep and the backrub… I was wondering if maybe you'd let me cook you dinner tonight?"

Emily grinned. "That sounds good. Let me just find the number for Poison Control and add them to my speed dial, then I'll follow you?"

With a gasp of mock outrage, JJ swatted lightly at Emily's arm. "I'll have you know I'm an excellent cook. I'm gonna rock your world, Prentiss."

"Bring it on, Jareau."

* * *

An hour later, Emily was forced to admit that her world was indeed being rocked. The beef stroganoff on her plate was perfect. The meat was tender, the mushrooms done to perfection, and the sauce was creamy and decadent without being cloying or too rich. She moaned, licking her lips and holding up her plate. "Seconds, please?" she asked.

"You sure you don't want to call Poison Control, smart ass?" JJ smirked, getting up and serving Emily another helping. "You know, I've never seen you like this. Out in the field, and at the office, you eat like a bird. You pick at food, more than you consume it. And even when we've gone out for dinner, you usually order a salad or something."

"Well, I've never had anything this good," Emily said, looking up at JJ shyly. "I mean I grew up with professional chefs and their food was good, but it was stuffy and fancy and I couldn't ever relax with it, you know? It was tasty, but it wasn't… it wasn't this good."

It was JJ's turn to blush. "I grew up in a small town. The boys learned to work with their hands, fix cars and do handy work around the house. The girls learned to cook, bake and sew. I'm lucky that I managed to break out of the mold, but there are some things you never forget."

Emily made short work of her second plate then sat back in her chair, groaning softly. "I'm going to have to rethink this friendship," she moaned. "I'm going to put on a hundred pounds if I make a habit of letting you cook for me."

"Jerk," JJ said. "You know you wouldn't put on that much weight. You're far too active. And besides…" She paused, considering her next words carefully. "You're really…"

"I'm really what?" Emily asked, eyeing her curiously. JJ shrugged.

"Really…" JJ waved her hands in a vague manner, indicating Emily's body. "Well formed."

Emily raised an eyebrow at her blonde friend. "Is that so?" she asked. "You think I'm well formed?"

"Come off it Emily. Don't make me say it. You know you're gorgeous."

Clearing away the plates, JJ tugged Emily up out of her seat by her hand and led her through to the living room. "You want to watch a movie?" At Emily's nod, she put in the first thing that came to her hand and clicked play, settling on the couch with the brunette. Without thinking, she leaned into Emily as her fingers started to comb unconsciously through JJ's hair.

"Mmm," she murmured. "That's nice."

"Did you know that you purr?" Emily asked softly. "Last night when I was rubbing your back, you purred, and you're doing it again now."

"Maybe it's just because you have magic hands," JJ shot back. But the truth was, no, she hadn't known that she possessed the tendency to purr. It was something that Emily had brought out in her, that no one she'd been with before had ever managed to do.

They sat and watched the rest of the movie, JJ's occasional purrs the only other noise in the room, and by the time it was finished, JJ was once again almost asleep.

"You've gotta stop falling asleep on me, Jareau. You're gonna give me a complex," Emily laughed softly, but JJ was too far gone to joke with. Fitfully, she clutched at Emily's shirt, grabbing a handful of it and hanging on like she had the night before. "C'mon, sweetheart," Emily said a little louder. "Wake up. We have to get you to bed. You can't spend the night out here."

But JJ just moaned, snuggling further into Emily's chest, hand clutching that fistful of shirt tightly, so Emily felt she had no choice but to take matters into her own hands. With a slight grunt, she lifted JJ into her arms, carrying her up the stairs slowly and into her bedroom. "JJ," Emily said gently. "Let go, JJ. You've gotta let go of my shirt, so I can go home."

JJ's eyes didn't open. "Stay?" she asked, just like she had the night before. Emily let out a chuckle, disentangling herself and stripping off her shirt and pants before climbing into the bed with JJ.

"Fine," she said in a pretense of a huff. "Fine, I'll stay." She reached up to stroke JJ's hair gently, smiling as JJ's fist found its way to her tank top and grabbed a handful.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

It became a pattern. In the evenings, they would travel together to one or the other of their places. JJ would cook, and Emily would give the blond a back rub before they settled in to sleep next to each other. In the mornings they would wake up tangled together, warm and safe. JJ loved it, loved everything about this new phase of friendship they had entered. Every day her smile was brighter, and when she caught Emily's eye, she saw her smile returned. She started going through old cook books, picking out new and varied recipes, finding herself wanting to impress Emily. And Emily was impressed, incredibly impressed – until the morning she weighed herself and found out she'd put on five pounds.

"Damnit, JJ, I told you that your cooking was going to do this to me," she complained playfully. The effect was lessened slightly by the fact that she had a mouthful of JJ's homemade chicken and dumplings. "I've gained five pounds in the last two weeks and you know it's your fault."

"You look good to me," JJ said without thinking, then froze, realizing that her words could be misconstrued. Emily just laughed.

"Thanks babe," she said with a wink.

JJ was quiet for the rest of the evening, though she didn't hesitate to snuggle up to Emily on the couch exactly as they had the last twelve nights in a row, and she didn't shy away from falling asleep in the same bed as Emily. After the first few mornings of waking up in each other's arms, they had stopped bothering to go to sleep separately, because the nocturnal snuggling seemed to them to be inevitable. JJ curled into Emily's arms, resting her head on Emily's chest and sighed as her hand found its way to Emily's tank top, clutching a fistful of the material.

"Why do you do that?" Emily asked curiously. "I've noticed that, every time we wake up – you always have a death grip on whatever I'm wearing. Why do you do that?"

"I didn't know I was doing it," JJ admitted. "I've never really thought about it. No one's ever… told me that I do that before."

Grinning, Emily pulled out her phone and showed JJ the photo she'd taken the first morning. "See?"

The photo was great, she had to admit. For a cell phone picture, it did a pretty darn good job of portraying the peace and tranquility of the moment, and the beauty of the sleeping blond.

"Is that really how I look? Is that how you see me?" JJ asked curiously. "And, uh, did you show this to Garcia?"

"Garcia hasn't seen it, no. But the answer to both of your other question is yes."

JJ wriggled a little closer, pulling Emily's arm around her for warmth on the cold night, and closed her eyes. "Okay, so, you're the profiler. You tell me why you think I do it, the thing with my hand tangled in your shirt."

"Hmm," Emily mused. "I think maybe it's like a child with a security blanket. Before we started doing whatever this is, you got by on what, four or five hours a night? And it showed, like it shows on all of us, because even make up can't completely hide dark circles under people's eyes. But now, the circles are gone, and everyone has noticed the change in your mood. You're clearly sleeping better, and not to sound conceited, but I think it's because of me." She chuckled slightly.

"That doesn't explain this," JJ murmured sleepily, her grip on Emily's tank tightening unconsciously.

"I think maybe," Emily said softly, her hand coming up to comb through JJ's hair the way she'd done countless times by now, "you do it because you need to know that I'm not going anywhere. I think that for whatever reason, you're getting warmth and security from my presence, and you have some sort of unconscious need to make sure that that's not going to disappear before you wake up. So you hold on to it, you hold on to me, to make sure I can't leave while you're sleeping." She shifted her head, bringing her lips to the top of JJ's head. "But I won't," she whispered, feeling JJ's body relax slightly, though her grip didn't lessen. "I'm not going to leave you, I promise."

"Mmm, I love you," JJ sighed, more asleep than not.

Emily's eyes flew open at the words, but she didn't say anything to wake the blond. Instead she held her tightly, though it took her a long time to fall asleep.

* * *

The next day all hell broke loose in the bullpen. A serial rapist was targeting Oklahoma and the BAU jet went wheels up before nine am. JJ briefed them on the flight, and Emily took the time to observe the younger woman.

They hadn't spoken about JJ's sleepy admission of the previous night. Emily wasn't even entirely sure she'd heard correctly, and JJ hadn't said anything that would indicate either that she wanted to talk, or that she was embarrassed. Perhaps it had been a dream? Perhaps Emily had just imagined it because she wanted it so badly to be true.

She sucked in a breath as this thought hit her. Not that she'd ever really considered the idea before, but she was definitely considering it now… on the jet… in front of Morgan, Hotch, Reid and Gideon. JJ's monologue wrapped up and she sat down, automatically plastering herself up against Emily's side and shivering.

"Are you cold?" Emily asked, surprised. The jet was heated, and the guys were all in shirt sleeves – she herself was wearing just her blouse, and she thought the temperature was fine.

"A little," JJ shrugged. Emily liberated a blanket from the overhead compartment and carefully tucked it over JJ's lap and up around her shoulders. "Is that better?" JJ nodded. "We've got like another hour and a half before we land, why don't you take a nap?"

JJ wriggled a hand free. She wouldn't be so blatant as to let herself pull her usual sleeping gesture – the boys would have a field day with the sight of her grabbing a handful of Emily's blouse like a cuddly toy as she napped – but she hooked two fingers through one of Emily's belt loops, covering it with the blanket. "You'll wake me before we land?" she asked.

"Sleep," Emily insisted. There was a flush to JJ's cheeks that worried Emily, combined with the fact that she felt cold in the toasty warm jet. As soon as she felt the younger woman relax, she nodded to Hotch.

"I think she's coming down with something," she murmured. "She complained of being cold, yet she's like a little portable furnace next to me."

Hotch looked down at JJ, his customary frown furrowing his brow. Reaching out a hand, he gently felt JJ's forehead and nodded. "She's burning up," he replied. "Why didn't she call in sick?"

"I don't think she knows," Emily mused. "She seemed fine this morning. And even if she didn't, you know her. She's the last person who would willingly admit she was sick. She's all about the job. She wants to catch whoever this is, and it's so exactly like her to put her health on the back burner in the interest of saving more women from being attacked."

"You're right," Hotch agreed, managing not to raise an eyebrow at the phrase "She seemed fine this morning". Whether accidentally or by design, Emily had essentially just admitted that the two women had spent the night together, and that concerned him slightly. "All right, here's the new plan. As soon as we land I want you to take her to the hotel, set her up there and then get back to us when you can." He turned to the others. "Reid, you and Gideon set up in the local PD and work victimology, and Morgan, you and I can start interviewing the victims. I'll send the jet back for Garcia, she can come and set up in the hotel with JJ and keep an eye on her – JJ can help her if she's up for it, and rest if she isn't."

He sat back in his seat, spine still ramrod straight as he whipped out his phone and dialed Garcia, letting her know that her presence would be required in Oklahoma.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

As soon as she was told they were about to land, Emily gently shook JJ awake. "Jay? We're landing. Wake up."

JJ woke slowly, sluggishly, and Emily let out a sigh. The blonde's eyes were glassy, her face flushed, and it was obvious she was not well.

Exchanging a glance with Hotch, Emily did as she had been asked. "Come on," she said in a commanding tone. "We're setting up at the hotel."

"We gonna run victimology from there?" JJ asked in a voice still thick with sleep. "Why aren't we going to the police station?"

"Because they didn't have enough room for us," Emily lied. She was amused to see Hotch's mouth twitch in what was dangerously close to a smirk as JJ blindly accepted Emily's word and fell in line, doing as she was told without question.

In the ten minutes it took to drive from the airfield to the hotel, JJ almost fell asleep again. Emily had to shake her awake again when they arrived, smiling sadly at her friend. They gathered their luggage out of the back of the SUV and checked in. Emily noticed that JJ was flagging, but still she knew better than to try to say anything yet. It wasn't until they were safely ensconced in the hotel room that Emily pushed JJ down onto the bed and covered her with the blankets.

"You're sick," she announced. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm not sick," JJ groaned. "I'm just… sleepy. Gimme the files and we'll go over them."

"You're not just sleepy. We got nine hours last night and you know it. You're sick, and you need to rest. It's okay, you know," she said softly. "If you're sick, it's okay. You're human, just like the rest of us. But you're not doing any good by not admitting it. Let us take care of you. Please?"

JJ's eyelids drooped and she slumped onto Emily's shoulder. "Stay," she whimpered. "Don't leave me here alone."

"That's my girl," Emily soothed. "I'll stay right here, I promise." Curling up next to JJ, she wrapped her arms around the smaller woman and held her tightly, smiling as the ever present hand found its way to her blouse. "One day," she whispered, "you won't have to hold on so tightly, because you'll be able to trust me, and know that I won't leave you." She pulled out her phone and dialed Hotch. "Hotch, it's Prentiss."

"Is JJ okay?"

"She's down for the count," Emily sighed. "I can't leave her here. She practically begged me to stay, and you know that's not like her. She doesn't show weakness unless she's really out of it. Can you just… send the files to my laptop? I can work from here."

JJ chose that moment to whimper in her sleep, pressing closer and mumbling. "Em," she slurred. "Em, don't go. Don't leave me."

"Was that her?" Hotch asked, his voice bordering on incredulous. "She really must be sick. Okay, you stay there and take care of her. The jet's already gone back to get Garcia, and we've got this for now." He hung up the phone and Emily settled more comfortably into the bed, pressing her lips to JJ's head and stroking her hair.

"I've got you," she murmured. "You'll be fine. I'm right here."

Slowly, JJ's grip on her blouse loosened a little. Emily smiled, holding the blonde closer. "That's it, baby. I'm right here. You can trust me. You know I'm not going anywhere."

…baby? Blushing, Emily replayed what she'd said. That had come out of nowhere. But it had felt… natural. It had felt right. She buried her face in JJ's soft, sweet smelling hair and closed her eyes. She couldn't do anything until Hotch sent the files or until Garcia arrived, so she might as well relax.

* * *

It took almost five hours for Garcia to arrive, but as soon as the knock came on the door Emily jolted awake. She knew who it was. She opted not to get up, instead calling out quietly for the technical analyst to come in. Garcia opened the door and sucked in a breath when she saw the scene in front of her.

"Did you call a doctor?" she exclaimed loudly, then clapped a hand over her mouth as Emily hurriedly shushed her. "Sorry," she whispered. "It's just… she looks so fragile. She's always been small, but now she looks so little and helpless."

It was true, Emily thought. Somehow in sickness JJ's already slight frame seemed even tinier, curled up in her embrace. "I'm just letting her sleep the worst of it off," she said quietly. "Could you maybe get me a cold washcloth for her forehead? She's still burning up."

Garcia's sharp eyes spotted JJ's hand fisted in Emily's shirt, deducing it to be the reason Emily hadn't got up to get the washcloth herself. For a moment, she said nothing, hurrying through to the bathroom to comply, but as soon as she came back she was full of questions. Emily didn't help matters – instead of just letting Garcia place the cool cloth on JJ's head, she took it from the bubbly blonde and did it herself. "All right gumdrop, let's hear it," Garcia said as sternly as she could manage, sitting down in the armchair near the bed. "You're wrapped around her like a lover. You're taking care of her like a spouse, and god, Emily, she's clinging to your shirt like she's adrift at sea and you're her lifebelt. What's going on between the two of you?"

Emily blushed. "There's nothing going on. We're friends. We've been spending a lot of time together lately, and when she started feeling ill, Hotch asked me to take care of her, that's all."

"Define a lot of time."

Pausing, Emily hid her face as she answered. "We've spent every night together for the last two weeks."

By now, Garcia's eyebrows were raised so far they had almost flown off her forehead. "You've spent  _every night_   _together_?"

"Not like that!" Emily was quick to assure her. "We're just friends. We just… we have slumber parties, she cooks and I… I give her backrubs…"

"Oh yeah, she told me about that," Garcia said. "Apparently you're  _amazing_. I was going to ask you for one myself, but then I forgot all about it. So you've really been doing this every night?"

"For two weeks," Emily confirmed.

"Wow." Garcia looked again at the picture before her. "And this is… normal? She sleeps like this often?"

"She sleeps like this every night."

Slowly, JJ struggled to wake up, hearing more than one voice in the room. There was a part of her that was still aware she was on the job, in the field, and she shouldn't be wasting the government's money snoozing away the afternoon when she should have been working. Her eyelids felt like lead but she forced them open, groaning slightly. "Em?"

Emily, mid-sentence with Garcia, cut herself off to answer her. "Hey," she soothed, stroking JJ's soft blond hair. "You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Hurts," JJ managed, hiding her face in Emily's chest to avoid the light. Emily gestured for Garcia to go turn it off, just as her phone started to ring. Garcia's sharp eyes caught the soft kiss Emily placed on the top of JJ's head as she answered it.

"Prentiss."

"Prentiss, it's Hotch," Hotch said in his usual clipped tone. "Listen, if Garcia is there, we could really use your help on this. We've got half a dozen victims to cover, and we'd like to finish them up before sundown so that we can focus on other leads in the morning. Can you get over here?"

Emily looked down at JJ and sighed. As much as it pained her to leave her friend at a time like this – especially after promising that she wouldn't leave – she knew she had a job to do. The team would be stretched with just one agent down, they couldn't afford two. "JJ, I have to go," she said softly. "Garcia will stay with you, okay? And I'll be back in a few hours, I promise."

To her credit, JJ played it off as if she didn't mind at all, though she didn't fool Emily. JJ looked small, broken, and almost… frightened, at the idea of Emily leaving, but it couldn't be helped. Garcia took Emily's place on the bed as Emily got up, stretched, and prepared to go and be Special Agent Prentiss of the FBI. Emily gave her a sad, sweet smile as she walked out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

The most frustrating thing about working cases in the field was the waiting. Waiting for prints to run, waiting for DNA to run, waiting for facial recognition to run… it all seemed like a big game of hurry up and wait, and Emily hated it. She wanted to be  _doing_  something, to be out kicking in doors and arresting the scumbag that had the entire town on edge, but instead she was riding a desk in some tiny little Podunk redneck police station, waiting for someone to hand her an assignment.

For lack of anything better to do, she called Garcia for an update on JJ. "How is she?" she asked without preamble.

"Dead to the world again, though she isn't doing that thing," Garcia answered, sounding a little distracted. "She's still way too hot. I ordered her a hot lemon and honey drink from room service, and slipped her some Tylenol, and she pretty much drank it and went back to sleep."

"What thing?" Emily asked, though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

"That thing where she clings to your shirt when she's asleep," Garcia said. Emily could hear the sound of her fingers clicking across the keys of her laptop as she continued to work. "She's not doing it to me, so I guess you're just special, huh Gumdrop?"

Morgan came striding into the precinct and Emily looked up expectantly. With just a jerk of his head, she knew he had something and that she had to go. "Thanks Garcia, you're the best. Keep her safe until I get back, okay?" She hung up and stood.

"We got a hit," Morgan said. "The son of a bitch lives two streets over.  _Two streets_  away from the police station and he hasn't been caught in all this time. Let's go get him."

Strapping on her vest, Emily put on her game face, setting her lips in a grim, determined line. This was it. Time to go and get the bad guy, so she could go back to JJ and tell her the world was just a little bit safer.

* * *

Much later, Emily let herself into the hotel room, closing the door behind her and leaning against it with a pained sigh. They'd got him, though he hadn't confessed and they had no physical evidence connecting him to the rapes. Hotch was letting him sweat it out in an interrogation room for the night before deciding what tack to take and had told Emily to go back to the hotel, an order she had gratefully followed.

She was met with twin gasps, from Garcia and JJ. Instinctively her hand came up to cover the shallow wound on her head. "Yeah, yeah, I got hit in the head again," she muttered, embarrassed. "At least this time it wasn't the Unsub. I walked into a tree branch,  _after_  we got him. So relax, okay?"

She climbed wearily onto the bed, flopping face first next to JJ, who immediately sat up a little straighter and stroked her back gently. "Rough afternoon?" she asked, her voice scratchy.

"Just long," Emily groaned into the pillow. Garcia excused herself with a soft "goodnight" and left the room, and Emily curled into JJ. For once in a way, Emily sought comfort from JJ's presence, rather than the other way around. She felt like she ought to be comforting JJ, since the blonde was the one who was sick, but just for now, just for tonight, she wanted to bury her face in JJ's neck and find solace in her. "We got him," she breathed, resting her head on JJ's chest, feeling the heat of the blonde's body. "He's in custody, but we're not done with him yet. I just…"

"Needed this?" JJ guessed. She rubbed Emily's back soothingly. Emily nodded sheepishly.

"I've never had a friendship like this before," she admitted. "I've never wanted to just…  _be_  with someone, or had this kind of physical intimacy without it being sexual. I… I really like it. I like that we can be this close." She laughed lightly. "I actually feel like the world's not such a scary place when I'm here with you like this. Is that stupid?"

"No, I don't think it's stupid," JJ said. "I feel the same way. Even in college, I never had anything quite like this."

Emily was silent for a long moment. "JJ, last night… you said…" she started, and then trailed off.

"I said what?"

"You told me you love me," Emily whispered. She couldn't quite believe how raw that admission made her feel, how vulnerable. She was sure JJ would deny it, but she couldn't stop herself from bringing it up.

"I did?" JJ frowned, trying to recall. "I don't remember."

"I think you were mostly asleep, and you kind of mumbled it. I almost didn't hear it."

"Oh." JJ didn't elaborate yet, just curled herself into Emily's body. She ached, and she was at once too cold and too hot, and her head was kind of fuzzy. "Well, you're my best friend," she attempted. "Of course I love you. You're the best friend I've ever had."

They were friends. Of course that was it. "You're my best friend too," she murmured. And that was all it was, so why did her heart suddenly feel like it was breaking? Emily had a sneaking suspicion that she knew. It hadn't happened for such a long time, so she hadn't immediately seen it for what it was. That unfamiliarity had allowed the feelings to creep up on her, ambush her, and hit her harder than any Unsub with a two by four had ever managed to do.

Emily had fallen for JJ, hard.

As much as she hated opening up to anyone, she felt a desperate need to talk to someone, anyone about what she finally understood she was feeling. Thankfully, JJ was asleep, so Emily reached for her phone and dialed Garcia.

"I'm in trouble," she said, her voice low and pained. Garcia picked up on it straight away.

"What's wrong, my perfect package of everything sweet and right in the world?"

Laughing at Garcia's effusive greeting, Emily closed her eyes. Somehow, she felt like it would be easier to have this conversation if she was in the dark, if she wasn't looking at the object of her affection as she spoke. "I think… no, I know I'm in love."

"Oh?" Garcia asked, instantly attentive. "Who are you in love with?"

"I think we both know that you're astute enough to figure out the answer to that," Emily said softly. "I think we both know, that this has been coming since the first night she and I spent together. I think we both knew it was only a matter of time, Penelope."

"You're in love with JJ," Garcia confirmed, unnecessarily.

"Yeah," Emily whispered.

"I get it," Garcia whispered back. "For what it's worth, I think it's beautiful. And I think you should tell her. I think that she'd like to hear it."

"She told me she loves me," Emily went on. "Last night. She was pretty out of it, and it slipped out. And today, when I asked her about it, she told me of course she loves me, because we're best friends."

"Oh, sugarplum," Garcia crooned. "It's more than that. I've seen the way she curls into you. I've seen the look on her face as you walk out the door. Tell her, Emily."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

By sunup, Hotch and Gideon had worked that voodoo that they did do so well. The suspect had been formally booked, and Morgan and Reid had both checked in with Emily to let her know that they'd be going home. "Wheels up at nine," Morgan had said before hanging up his phone.

And still JJ slept on. She held Emily tightly. Even in sleep she gave the brunette what she had needed so badly the night before. Emily clung back, their legs tangled together, not an inch of space between their bodies. Now that Emily understood, there was a whole new dimension to their intimacy that she was having a little trouble reconciling. She had urges that she hadn't had before, to press her lips to the soft, sweet skin of JJ's neck and she had to resist because she knew that she had no right to touch JJ that way.

Distance would be her only saving grace. Distance would be what saved her from losing the best friendship she had ever had. Quietly, she got out of bed and started packing up their things, picking out an outfit for JJ to wear but otherwise making sure she was ready to leave as soon as she woke up. It took her all of fifteen minutes to sort out their belongings, and then all that was left to do was wake the sleeping blonde.

"JJ?" she ventured. "Time to wake up, wheels up in about an hour babe. How are you feeling?"

JJ struggled awake and Emily noticed her hand, the one that was usually tangled in her shirt, grasping and clutching at air. For a moment before she opened her eyes there was a look of utter despair on JJ's face that made Emily's stomach dip in a very unpleasant way. Right then she knew she didn't want to be the cause of that face again, not ever. "JJ, I'm right here," she reassured her. "I just had to pack our stuff so that you could sleep in. It's okay."

"Emily," JJ breathed, reaching for the brunette and shuffling forward to hug her. "I thought… I guess I've got used to waking up in your arms. I was thrown." She got up, swaying a little before regaining her equilibrium, and pulled on the clothes Emily had thoughtfully left out for her. Just as she was zipping up her boots, a knock on the door sounded and Emily opened it.

"Good morning Prentiss. How's JJ?" Hotch asked politely, standing in the doorway so that he wouldn't see if either of them wasn't ready to face the world just yet.

JJ walked up behind Emily and smiled wanly at Hotch. "I've been better, but I'll make it. Are we ready to leave?"

Chivalrously, Hotch took JJ's bags and carried them out to the SUV for her. JJ was so busy making shocked and amused faces at Emily and Garcia, she didn't notice that Emily was trying not to stand so close to her, or that Garcia was eyeing Emily cautiously. "Thanks Hotch," JJ said when they reached the car. "I never knew you were such a gentleman."

The normally staunch and severe man actually smiled at her. "I might not show it sometimes JJ, but I'm part of this… family. When someone in my family gets sick, I worry."

The surprise of this touching statement carried JJ all the way to the airport and onto the jet. Emily deliberately sat down in a chair rather than on the couch where they had snuggled up together. JJ frowned, plopping down in the seat next to her. "You okay?" she asked.

Emily shrugged. "Just tired," she lied.

"If I get a blanket, can I take a nap?" JJ asked in a small voice, and Emily knew she meant, can I snuggle up to you and take a nap. She shrugged again.

"I've got a lot of paperwork to do," she said in a non-committal tone, inwardly wincing at the look of hurt on JJ's face.

"Emily, did I… do something?" she asked in that same small voice. "Are you angry with me? I promise I didn't know I was sick when I got on the plane, Emily. I wouldn't have come if this… whatever it was had come on early enough for me to figure it out. It just hit me really fast, that was all. You know I would never jeopardize an ongoing investigation by knowingly…"

"You didn't do anything," Emily cut her off, feeling like an absolute asshole. "I'm sorry. I'm just worrying about this paperwork. Come here." Despite her vow to put some distance between them, Emily couldn't let JJ think she had done something wrong. Her eyes were wide and sad, and she looked dangerously close to tears at the thought she might have upset Emily. Emily herself grabbed the blanket and tucked it over the two of them, reaching out her arm for JJ to curl into her.

JJ still didn't seem convinced that Emily wasn't mad, so Emily reached out her hand under the blanket. Instead of letting JJ grab a handful of her shirt, she laced their fingers together and gave JJ a small smile. JJ lit up, smiling brightly back at her before burying her face in Emily's upper arm and drifting off to sleep.

Garcia sat down opposite them and put her laptop beside her so that none of the guys could disturb them. "Oh my darling pumpkin pie, you have got it bad for her, haven't you?" she asked after checking no one was listening. Emily nodded miserably.

"I spent all of five minutes trying to distance myself, but she looked so hurt I didn't have the heart to keep it up," she whispered. "Look at her…" She gazed down at the slumbering blond, her stomach swooping and dipping inside her. "God, Garcia… did you ever see anything so beautiful in your entire life?"

Garcia snickered. "I've seen my chocolate god step out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel, Em, but she's a close second, I'll give you that."

Hotch chose that moment to approach them. "How is she?" he asked. "Has her fever broken?"

Emily felt JJ's forehead carefully and shrugged. "She's still too hot, but she's not nearly as bad as she was yesterday. It was like sleeping next to an open flame."

Hotch's eyebrows rose. "You two spent the night together?" he asked.

"You told me to take care of her!" Emily shot back defensively.

Hiding a smile, Hotch made his way back to his seat, and Emily let herself sink into JJ's warmth. The last thing she knew was Garcia tucking the blanket in tighter around the two of them before backing away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

As soon as the jet landed, Hotch went into Unit Chief Mode. "Prentiss, take JJ home. The rest of you, it's… not quite noon on Thursday. I don't want to see any of you until nine on Monday morning, do you understand?"

Morgan offered Reid a high five at the unexpected long weekend, and the two of them set off together, leaving Emily to try and get JJ into the car. The blonde was still a little woozy and a lot sleepy and it took her a couple of minutes to reorient herself.

Emily drove them back to JJ's place and brought the bags in, then guided JJ upstairs and into her bedroom. "You're going back to bed," she announced, "and I'm going out to get some supplies, and then we're going to have a ridiculous TV marathon all afternoon. Okay?"

"Sounds good," JJ said sleepily. "I'll try to stay awake until you get back, okay?"

"No, no," Emily scolded. "You go to sleep, pretty girl, and I'll see you when I get back." Impulsively she leaned forward and pressed her lips to JJ's cheek lightly, before turning, grabbing her keys and leaving quickly. She didn't look back, not wanting JJ to see how red her face had become. Of course, by not looking back, she missed out on seeing JJ's hand drift slowly to her cheek, her fingertips pressing lightly in the same place Emily's lips had been.

* * *

"She kissed me," JJ stammered into the phone as soon as Garcia picked up.

"Is that good or bad?" Garcia asked cautiously, picking up on JJ's confusion and slight panic. "Did you like it?"

"I-it was only on the cheek," JJ said. "Is it weird that I… felt something?"

"Well that depends what you felt. Was it revulsion? Or was it more… excitement?"

There was a long silence on the end of the phone before JJ answered. "It wasn't revulsion," she whispered. "It was… it was closer to excitement."

Garcia didn't want to betray Emily's confidence, so she knew she had to approach this carefully. "JJ… Are you attracted to Emily?"

"I don't know, maybe? I've never been attracted to a woman before. How would I even know?"

"You said it was just a simple kiss on the cheek. You guys have got really close in the last couple of weeks. It probably doesn't mean anything," Garcia lied. "Just… relax. Get comfortable and go to sleep, like I know you desperately need to. Whatever happens, I know that Emily cares about you a lot, so if she kissed you on the cheek, it's probably just an extension of those feelings."

"Yeah… Yeah. This is stupid. I'm totally overreacting," JJ muttered. "Okay. Thanks for talking me down, Garcia. You're the best."

"I know I am, sugar dumpling."

* * *

Miraculously, JJ did manage to drop off to sleep long before Emily got home, though it took her a while. She felt cold and lonely in the bed by herself. She'd been spoiled and she knew it. That was one of the reasons she didn't want to screw up her friendship with Emily – she didn't want to go back to the way things were before. She liked their closeness, she craved it.

Was she attracted to Emily? JJ made a conscious effort to think about it. She pictured the brunette in her mind, objectively gauging her reaction. She let her imagination paint on a wide grin on Emily's face and felt herself smile in response. She definitely felt something.

She woke as the bed dipped, but kept her eyes closed to see what Emily would do. Emily didn't disappoint. She lifted back the covers and settled into the bed, pulling JJ gently into her arms and sighing lightly.

"Mmm, hey," JJ murmured, sliding her hands around Emily's waist and pulling her closer. "What'd you bring me?"

"I've got popcorn, potato chips, gummy bears, soda… all the fixings for an afternoon of relaxing and pigging out," Emily murmured. "And I got some things for dinner, too."

"You're too good to me," JJ whispered. She didn't move, just drinking in the feeling of being in Emily's arms. "What are we watching?"

"Family Guy," Emily giggled. "I wanted whatever we watched to be as stupid as possible, so that we wouldn't have to concentrate on following it." She sat up, flicking on the TV and pressing play on the DVD she'd already set up. Holding out her arms, she smirked. "I'm going to go out on a limb here, but judging by your behavior the last couple of weeks – the last couple of days especially – you want to snuggle?"

Blushing, JJ sat up and settled herself in Emily's embrace, reaching for the popcorn. "I'm sorry. I've been really clingy, I know. I'm not normally like this."

"It's okay. If I didn't… like it, I wouldn't be here."

* * *

For the rest of the afternoon, the two of them watched the DVDs, filled up on junk food, and relaxed. "What's for dinner?" JJ asked at length.

"I made chicken soup for you," Emily said shyly. It wasn't as if she didn't know how to cook, but thus far in their relationship, JJ had been the one to do all the cooking, so Emily was rather nervous about her first attempt to feed the blond. JJ raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything until the bowl was set in front of her and she'd taken the first mouthful.

"God, Emily!" she moaned. "That's incredible!"

Emily blushed. "It's just a simple broth with some extras thrown in," she deflected. "It's nothing special."

JJ finished the bowl with gusto and asked for more, which Emily was happy to supply, and then she lay back, sleepy. "That was really good," she slurred, and Emily could tell she was starting to drift off. Gently, she reached out and rubbed JJ's belly.

"Go to sleep, pretty girl," Emily crooned. "I'll still be here in the morning."

"That's the second time you've called me that," JJ noted sleepily. "Do you really think I'm pretty?"

"The prettiest," Emily whispered, brushing her lips across JJ's cheek again.

* * *

As Emily's eyes came open she realized what had woken her. JJ was murmuring fitfully in her sleep, inches from Emily's face. Sighing, Emily brought her hand up and stroked the little furrow in JJ's brow, then kissed it gently. "JJ," she breathed. "It's okay, I'm right here." She kissed JJ's nose, then, after a moment's pause, pressed a soft, barely there kiss to JJ's mouth.

She pulled away and was greeted by the sight of wide, surprised blue eyes. "You're awake," Emily said, terror rising. This was the part she'd been afraid of. Would JJ throw her out now that she'd given herself away? Would she exclaim in disgust, push Emily away, leap out of the bed and accuse her of sexual harassment?

JJ didn't move. She didn't speak, and she didn't push Emily away. She just stared quietly into Emily's eyes, almost as if she was trying to read her. The profiler was being profiled. Silently, JJ's finger traced Emily's cheek, down the length of her nose, then across her lips. As if in a dream, JJ leaned in, brushing her lips across Emily's. It lasted a fraction of a moment, no more, and then JJ was back to regarding her seriously.

Again, JJ leaned in and initiated another kiss, just as light and short as the one before, but she followed it with another and another before she pulled back enough to look in Emily's eyes.

Their contact had consisted of nothing but a few tiny pecks on the mouth, but Emily's heart was racing, pounding in her chest like it was trying to break through her ribcage. "JJ," she whispered. "What are you doing?"

"Ssh," JJ stopped her with a finger against her lips. After one more long moment of staring in each other's eyes, she kissed Emily, lingering sweetly.

Emily kissed back, a whimper ripped from her throat at the feeling of JJ's lips against her own, the unbearable sweetness of the blond. But it was JJ who took the lead, rolling half on top of Emily to continue kissing her, pressing herself as close as possible.

"JJ, stop," Emily moaned. "What are you doing?"

"I'm… kissing you," JJ stammered. "I'm sorry, I thought… I'm sorry. Obviously I read this wrong. I thought… you keep calling me pretty, and I woke up and you were kissing me, and I thought that maybe you… felt this."

"God," Emily breathed. "JJ… This wasn't supposed to happen, not like this."

JJ's eyes filled with tears. "Jesus, was I that bad?"

"No!" Emily hastened to reassure her. "You… you're perfect. I just…" She hid her face in the blankets, so her voice came out muffled. "I wanted to sweep you off your feet, not just take advantage of you while you're recovering from some virus."

Sitting up, JJ tugged Emily up to face her. "Emily… I'm pretty sure I'm recovered," she said softly.

"What?"

"Go ahead. Sweep me off my feet."

Emily blushed, looking down at her hands. "Look… I've never been with a woman before. I'm not even sure I know how to sweep a woman off her feet. I want to… God, I want to, but you'll have to give me some time. Let's just… take this slow, okay? You've got me… if you want me. And I'm not going anywhere."

JJ smiled. "Yeah, I want you," she murmured, kissing Emily softly. "When I'm with you, I feel…" She gestured helplessly with her hands, indicating that she was lost for words. "It's like nothing I've ever felt before. I can't let that go. I won't. If you're mine… then I'm yours."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

And just like that, everything changed. And nothing changed. Emily and JJ were just as close as they ever were. They still spent every night together and they still woke up together every morning. They started carpooling to save on gas.

The hand holding was the first noticeable change. Before she knew it, Emily was reaching for JJ's hand every time they had to walk someplace together. It was a habit she knew she couldn't afford to let herself get into, especially not at work… but somehow, walking down the street from JJ's house to the corner store for ice cream, it just felt right to lace their fingers together. And whenever Emily reached for JJ's hand, she didn't just get to feel JJ's hand in hers, she got to see JJ's beautiful smile.

The kissing was new, too. For a couple of weeks, they didn't stray further than they already had done. They stuck to small brushes of lips when the warmth of their embrace wasn't quite enough to express the depth of their newfound emotion. JJ liked to try to push Emily further, but Emily had been serious about taking things slowly, and refused to give in to the temptation to throw the shorter woman down on the bed and ravish her.

So far, they were managing to keep it quiet in the workplace. By not giving in to the physicality of their relationship, Emily thought they were keeping things very sweet and romantic, which made it a lot easier to keep things cool when they were around other people.

Other people, that was, except Garcia. The bubbly blond might not have been a profiler, but she had a sixth sense about romance and relationships that bordered on scary. In the interest of keeping things quiet, JJ made the trip down to Garcia's lair one afternoon. She reasoned that by making sure Garcia was in the loop, there would be no need for her to go snooping.

She sat down in a chair, and grinned widely at her friend. "Garcia… I love her."

Garcia's jaw dropped. She had expected them to try to hide it from her. She had expected that even if she confronted them, they would deny it. To have JJ down here declaring her love for Emily, that had taken her by surprise.

"Since when?" she stammered.

"I think since always," JJ said. "Honestly… We spend every night curled up together, we cook together…" She had the good grace to blush. "And it's so stupid, really. I feel like a teenager having her first crush. She tells me I'm beautiful, and when she does she gets this look on her face, this look of utter raw honesty, and I  _feel_  beautiful. We haven't… made love. We haven't even really kissed, not properly. But every so often she'll pull me close and just brush her lips over mine, like I'm something precious and she's savoring me…" JJ paused in her rambling and grinned. "I'm in love with her, and I think she's in love with me too."

Emily hadn't ever said it in so many words, but JJ could feel it in every interaction the two of them shared. She sat back in the chair and waited for Garcia to speak, a dreamy smile on her face. Garcia, for her part, was silent for a moment before she reacted.

"And you?" she asked. "How do you feel about her?"

JJ thought for a moment. "Emily is… everything. She makes me feel like I must have done something wonderful in a past life and she's my reward, sent from heaven. When I go to sleep with her wrapped around me, I feel so safe – and you know how rare that feeling can be, with what we do. And in the mornings, when I wake up and she's there, I'm just… awed. These feelings I have for her, they fill me up so that I feel like I could fly!" She laughed breathlessly. "I love her nose, Garcia. Isn't that stupid? I love everything about her, but there's just something about her nose that keeps me coming back. She's so perfect! To borrow an overused phrase, she's everything I never knew I always wanted."

"That… that's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard," Garcia breathed. "I don't think I've ever loved anyone like that."

* * *

Garcia had always fancied herself something of a matchmaker. In this case, her work was essentially done, but she couldn't resist this small piece of meddling. Grinning, she took a small USB drive out of the side of one of her many machines and hummed to herself as she bustled through the office. Okay, so she probably shouldn't have recorded JJ's little impromptu confession, but she hadn't been able to help herself. She was just excited that she'd managed to catch everything JJ had said about Emily.

"JJ asked me to give this to you. It sounded important," she said casually, though she winked at Emily to let her know that she probably wouldn't want to listen to it with an audience. She handed over the little USB drive, gave Morgan an outrageously flirtatious smile and blew him a kiss before escaping back to her lair.

* * *

It didn't take long to find somewhere to insert the little drive and find out what was so important that JJ had asked Garcia to bring it to her. She opened the folder, and saw a single audio file, so she plugged in some headphones and clicked on it. JJ's voice filled her ears.

"Emily is… everything. She makes me feel like I must have done something wonderful in a past life and she's my reward, sent from heaven. When I go to sleep with her wrapped around me, I feel so safe – and you know how rare that feeling can be, with what we do. And in the mornings, when I wake up and she's there, I'm just… awed. These feelings I have for her, they fill me up so that I feel like I could fly! I love her nose, Garcia. Isn't that stupid? I love everything about her, but there's just something about her nose that keeps me coming back. She's so perfect! To borrow an overused phrase, she's everything I never knew I always wanted."

Emily sucked in a breath, hand clutching at her heart. "Oh, JJ," she breathed, eyes filling with tears. She removed the drive and put it safely in her pocket, signing out of the computer and hurrying back to her desk.

"Hey, Prentiss, is everything okay?" Morgan asked. Emily turned to face him just as a fat tear rolled down her cheek and splashed onto the desk below her, prompting him to get up and hurry to her side. Then she smiled at him, a dazzling display of pure, unadulterated joy. From the usually stoic and closed off Emily Prentiss, this was a rare sight, and Morgan actually stumbled, hit with the full force of her happiness.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Everything is… great."

Waiting for the end of the day was agony, especially with Morgan shooting her concerned glances and Reid being even more clumsy and awkward around her, frazzled as he had been by the sight of her tears, but somehow she made it through the last couple of hours. She waited by the elevator for JJ, giving her a tight smile but not speaking as they left the building and got into the car.

The two of them drove in silence for long minutes, until Emily pulled over on a small side street and unbuckled her seatbelt, leaning over.

"Emily?" JJ asked, wondering if she was about to get an explanation for Emily's odd mood, but was cut off as Emily pulled her into their first real deep, passionate kiss. Dragging her tongue along JJ's bottom lip, Emily tangled her fingers in long blond hair, cradling JJ's head close.

"Em," JJ moaned, lips parting as she pressed herself closer. Emily pressed her advantage, deepening the kiss by sliding her tongue into JJ's mouth. She held her close, letting this one kiss speak of everything she was feeling in that moment.

For a moment JJ's hands fluttered helplessly by her side. Emily didn't relent, kissing her until she saw stars, her heart pounding in her chest. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around Emily's neck, kissing her back just as passionately. When they finally broke for air, JJ opened her mouth to speak but Emily cut her off with another kiss, shorter this time.

"I love you," she breathed, making sure she was looking right in JJ's eyes as she said it. JJ gasped. "Baby… Garcia recorded what you said to her, about me. I heard every word, and I just… I needed you to know. I love you. I love you so much."

"I love you too," JJ murmured. "And… now we're making out in the car like teenagers."

Emily laughed. "Why, you wanna stop?"

"Never," JJ said seriously, pulling her into another searing kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

They made it home somehow, pulling up outside JJ's house and hurrying inside. As soon as the door closed JJ had Emily up against it, kissing her hungrily. "Why," she panted, "did we wait so long to do this? I feel like I could kiss you, touch you forever and never get tired of this."

"I don't know why it took so long to start," Emily managed, "but I propose that we never stop, ever." She kissed JJ's mouth again, and then turned her attention to JJ's neck. There was something about the noises JJ made, so appreciative and encouraging, that made Emily want to keep exploring. Pressing quick, hot openmouthed kisses to JJ's skin, she worked her way up to JJ's ear. "You're so beautiful," she breathed, right in JJ's ear.

JJ let out a desperate little whimper, her hips bucking involuntarily. "Emily," she panted.

For a moment Emily wasn't sure what she'd done to provoke such an intense reaction, then she realized. "Oh, it's your ears, is it?" she said softly, making sure her hot breath washed over JJ's sensitive ear. "The ears are the sweet spot?" JJ just moaned, squirming and panting. With an evil grin, Emily traced her tongue around the shell of JJ's ear and let out a teasing groan, deliberately trying to get a reaction from JJ.

On wobbly legs, JJ grabbed Emily by the shoulders and all but threw her onto the couch, climbing on top of her. "That's not fair," she moaned. "You know mine, but I don't know yours."

"Life's not fair," Emily smirked, blowing softly in JJ's ear. JJ bucked again, pressing herself closer, and then brought her hands up to tangle in Emily's hair, tugging her close for a kiss.

Humming delightedly, Emily reciprocated. "Hey… we should slow down," she panted finally. "I love you. I want this to last. I… we have time. We have all the time in the world to explore this…" She pulled back far enough to look JJ in the eye. "I'm in this… with you."

JJ smiled, bringing Emily's hand to her chest. "Feel how hard my heart is beating," she whispered. "You did this." She lifted her hand and cupped Emily's face tenderly. "I love you." She kissed Emily softly. "I can't imagine feeling like this with anyone but you."

* * *

"You ought to be in some serious trouble, young lady," JJ said down the phone to Garcia later that evening. "You are charged with recording a federal agent without her knowledge or consent. You also stand accused of the transmission of privileged information, again without knowledge or consent. These are serious crimes. How do you plead?"

"Guilty," Garcia said, her tone matching her statement. "JJ, I'm really sorry…"

"Save it," JJ cut her off. "You will never know, Penelope Garcia, just how much I owe you, how much we both owe you. Your 'sentence' should be arriving any moment now."

Garcia heard the doorbell and went to open it, still talking to JJ. "Look, I'm really sorry. I just thought she had a right to know…" At the door was a delivery boy, holding a large bunch of dark pink roses. "JJ, did you send these?"

"We both did. Roses mean gratitude. We're both really, really grateful – more than you can ever know."

"You're welcome?"

"I'm going to hang up on you now. I have a beautiful girlfriend who wants to make out with me. See you tomorrow!"

Garcia stood just inside her door, clutching her roses and her phone with her jaw hanging open. "Did that just happen?"

* * *

JJ and Emily spent a beautiful evening exploring this new level of their relationship thoroughly. Hours passed like minutes as they traded deep kisses, nestled together in the warmth and comfort of JJ's bed. A couple of times, JJ's hands began to wander involuntarily, but Emily kept putting the brakes on, choosing instead to keep things simple for now.

"I love you," Emily breathed, bringing their lips together for the umpteenth time. She sighed happily as their tongues met, keeping JJ as close as possible. Her brain, usually busy mapping escape routes and behavioral patterns and victimology, blissfully gave itself over to the new and far more pleasant task of finding out just how to drive JJ crazy without removing a single item of clothing.

Eventually, lips swollen and hair messed up, they parted, and Emily sat up, tugging JJ with her. "Take off your shirt," she commanded. "We need to cool off a little, but I want to keep touching you…" In her head, she envisioned a return to the first night they had spent together. JJ eagerly pulled off her shirt, reaching for Emily, but was surprised when Emily gently pushed her down and rolled her on to her stomach – evidently she had thought that Emily had given in to JJ's desire to make love.

Reaching into the drawer, Emily pulled out her lavender and chamomile lotion. Tonight, she started with JJ's neck, digging her thumbs in deeply and teasing out every knot and tight muscle. There were far less than the first time she'd done this, a fact she was proud of. As she moved from JJ's neck to her shoulders, she pressed soft kisses to JJ's neck, working her way down until JJ was once again a puddle of liquid relaxation.

"Beautiful," Emily murmured. She couldn't help herself, feeling the need to kiss every inch of flawless skin. She dropped kisses randomly over JJ's back, down as far as the dip at the base of her spine, and then trailed back up, smiling fondly at JJ's near constant purring. Emily lay down next to JJ, laughing softly at the younger woman's seeming inability to move, and laced their fingers together. She couldn't turn her brain off. Now it raced from place to place, mentally putting together the best ways to spoil JJ rotten almost without Emily's participation. Ideas slotted into place, presents, food, location, until she drifted off to sleep. The last thing she knew before her eyes closed for the last time that night was the feeling of JJ's hand finding its way to her tank top and clutching tightly.

"Mine," JJ murmured in her sleep, rolling into Emily.

"Yours," Emily agreed dreamily as she fell asleep.

* * *

For once in a way, JJ was the first one awake the next morning, and she gently got out of bed without waking Emily. Softly, she kissed Emily's mouth, and then grabbed a shirt off the floor as she tiptoed out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

She rummaged in the refrigerator, pulling out a bunch of ingredients, and started making breakfast while humming quietly. As was often the case when JJ cooked, she lost herself in what she was doing, concentrating on putting together the perfect breakfast for her perfect girlfriend.

Emily woke to an empty bed, but she could hear soft noises downstairs and deduced, correctly, where JJ was. She crept downstairs, peeking around the corner of the living room to see the blond engrossed in what she was doing. Quietly, she came up behind JJ and wrapped her arms around her, nuzzling her neck lovingly. "Hi," she whispered.

Snuggling back into Emily's embrace, JJ sighed happily. "Hi," she replied. "I'm making omelets with bacon, is that okay?"

"It sounds – and smells – great," Emily murmured.

After turning down the burners and serving the food onto plates, JJ turned in Emily's arms and kissed her gently. "I think I can honestly say that I have never been this happy before," she said. "You're so… damn perfect, I can hardly stand it." She giggled, pulling away just far enough to trace her finger down Emily's nose. "Did I ever tell you how much I love this nose?" she teased, laughing harder as Emily started to blush.

"It's too big!" Emily protested. "I like yours much better, it's little and cute!"

"I like yours because it's elegant," JJ said seriously. "It's a little long, but it's perfectly straight. It's elegant, and proud, and when you put it together with the rest of your face, it just emphasizes how beautiful you are. I wouldn't change anything about you, least of all this nose."

Emily pulled away and grabbed her plate with a snort of laughter. "You," she said decisively, "are a dork. You're lucky I love you, or I'd have to have you committed for that level of insanity."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

Morgan wasn't stupid. There were people in his hometown who liked to sneer at what he did for a living. They thought he was somehow less than, because he chose to use his brain to fight criminals instead of relying on nightstick, fists and gun. The fact that he actually did carry a gun seemed irrelevant to his detractors, because all they saw was that Morgan preferred to talk first instead of shooting.

What they didn't see was how good he was at what he did. Sure, there were mistakes made, but he chalked that up to being a human being and not some profiling robot.

Morgan wasn't stupid and he wasn't blind, and he could see that there was something happening between his partner and the team's media liaison. As subtle as they tried to be, he could see the looks they gave each other, the small touches they thought they were hiding, and the smiles they wore so much more frequently. And he hadn't forgotten the afternoon not so long ago when Emily had burst into tears while favoring him with the most dazzling smile he'd ever seen on her face.

A lesser man with a lesser brain might have put two and two together and come up with six – might have assumed that the two of them had found love outside of the team at around the same time. But Derek Morgan was a profiler, and a good one at that. And even he had to admit it wouldn't take a profiler to see what was growing between the two women.

Morgan was a man who was given to teasing, good natured ribbing and smart remarks, but for once in his life he didn't bother to bust any of his usual banter out. Instead, he left work one afternoon and headed for the nearest gift shop. He picked out two generic cards from the stand – the kind that were meant to have messages written in them, as opposed to having some mass market platitude. In each, he wrote the same short message.

"Congratulations. You're beautiful together – too beautiful to hide any longer. But if anyone finds out, it won't be from me. I love you both. Derek."

* * *

Garcia was the type of person who prided herself on always being the first to know everything that went on in their little family. What she wasn't told, she could easily find out by hacking into security video, or by delving into personal records and credit card bills. She liked to use her powers only for good, but she knew that she was only human and sometimes even with the best of intentions she slipped and "did a thing".

She'd known since the first morning that there was something between Emily and JJ. She'd been the first person to call them out on it, even if they'd brushed off her questions as if she were crazy for asking them. Hearing JJ's confession had only been a surprise because she had expected to have to dig for it, to probe and poke and pry until JJ confessed. That she came to the lair to blurt it out had been half of the surprise. The depth and beauty of her emotion was the other half. Garcia hadn't expected that her friend would fall so hard and so fast for the dark haired beauty.

Garcia was straight, and unashamedly so, but she'd be lying if she said she hadn't cast her eyes over Emily Prentiss' very appealing form once or twice. The same went for JJ, though being blond, JJ was less Garcia's type – she loved her dark and dangerous agents a little too much to change. So Garcia could definitely see what each of her friends saw in the other, physically. What had really touched her heart was the smallest of their interactions, like the way Emily would rest her hand on the small of JJ's back as they walked, or the adoring look in JJ's eye as she sat and watched Emily pace and profile Unsubs. There was a closeness and intimacy there that went far beyond just "knocking boots".

There had been a moment, a dark, selfish, small moment when Garcia had felt sick with jealousy over the relationship her two best friends were embarking upon. She'd worried, for all of five minutes, that now the two of them had each other they'd have no need for her. She'd spent those five minutes variously picturing herself in the place of either JJ or Emily, before admitting that it would never work because both of them lacked a certain something, as potential life partners for the omniscient Penelope Garcia.

She'd been ashamed of herself immediately following those thoughts. And while JJ and Emily might not have exactly gone out of their way to spend as much time with Garcia as they did with each other, Garcia had to admit that honestly, nothing had changed in their friendships. The longer things went on, and the more each of them came to her individually to talk, to gush about the other, to share their secrets with her, the more secure she felt.

JJ and Emily together was a good thing, and Garcia was ready to take on anyone who dared say otherwise.

* * *

Reid was smart, and he knew it. He'd always been smart, and he'd always known it. He had four PhDs, two BAs, and an eidetic memory. Once, when he'd said this, Morgan had started singing to him. "And a partridge in a pear tree!"

Reid had laughed, but it wasn't until later that he'd had a chance to get on his computer and check out the significance of the line. It was only then that he got the joke.

Anyway, Reid was good with chemistry, and science, and words, but he wasn't so very good with people. The other members of the BAU team were perhaps the closest friends he'd ever had, and it wasn't because of anything he had done. For whatever reason, he was lucky enough that these people genuinely liked him. Morgan saw him as a little brother. Gideon had treated him almost like a son or a favored nephew. Emily, JJ and Garcia were all his big sisters, and Hotch was…

Well, Hotch was Hotch.

The fact that all these very different, very normal but very exceptional people had taken Reid under their wing and made him their own, gave him a sense of belonging that he'd never in his life felt before. And so, with all the career paths and options open to him, that was largely why he stayed in the FBI: because he liked the feeling of being loved.

There was something weird going on lately, though. He might not have been the most socially perceptive of the team, but even he could see something was up. Emily and JJ were smiling a lot more, and spent a large percentage of their time either close together, or pretending they didn't want to be closer together.

He hadn't known how to feel about that. He'd gone out on one date with JJ, and for a that evening, sitting in the stands next to a beautiful girl, he'd felt normal. He'd spent more time watching the blond than the game, which he'd only understood in the abstract. JJ excited was a sight to behold. She glowed, a flush coloring her cheeks, her eyes lit up and sparkling. It was one of Reid's greatest regrets that all he did that night was linger a little too long hugging her goodnight, instead of kissing her like he wanted to.

Ironically though, it was this one "date" with JJ that had helped put the recent events into context. That excited, exhilarated look JJ had had at the Redskins game was the same look she wore now whenever she caught sight of Emily. And it didn't take four PHDs, two BAs, an eidetic memory (and a partridge in a pear tree) to figure out why that was.

Reid waited for his chance, standing alone in the corridor until she walked his way. He waved awkwardly, getting her attention, and motioned her off to the side, just in case anyone wanted to walk past. (They didn't.) For a moment, he was lost for words, so he gave up on them and did something rather unlike him. He reached out awkwardly and hugged JJ. "I can see you're happy with her," he said, missing the surprised look on her face as her head rested on his shoulder. "Your happiness is important to me, because you're important to me."

He pulled away, embarrassed, and shrugged before hurrying back to the bull pen. He didn't stick around long enough to see JJ smile.

* * *

Sometimes it amused Hotch, the number of things his agents honestly thought they could keep from him. He might not have been psychic, or a mind reader, but one didn't just become the leader of the Behavioral Analysis Unit without knowing how to read people.

Right now, he knew that Reid was on his fourth coffee of the day, despite being told by both Prentiss and Garcia that two had been enough, and three had been getting on their nerves. He spotted Gideon out of the corner of his eye flexing his wrists, and knew that despite anything the older man said, his age was starting to wear on him just a little, and the constant report writing and typing was beginning to hamper his ability to wield his gun for long periods of time effectively.

He'd been the one to spot that Chief Strauss favored her son over her daughters, and he'd actually smiled to himself at the idea that he'd got one over on her without breaking professionalism for a moment. He'd been the one to call out that arrogant lawyer who had Hotch on the stand, and based on what? He'd had the man's entire life mapped out by the color of his socks, the soles of his shoes, and the fact that his Blackberry was buzzing every twenty minutes.

No, it was essentially useless to try to hide anything from Aaron Hotchner, at least for long. He'd been slightly upset with himself that he couldn't quite pinpoint the moment when the freight train that was JJ and Prentiss' friendship blew through half a dozen stations and screeched to a halt in "Love", but he chalked that one up to experience. Truthfully, he'd pegged the two of them as straight, though he'd raised his eyebrow at Prentiss once or twice. Based on that assumption, he decided he could let his lack of awareness over their relationship slide. His profile had been off, and so he'd missed it. He wouldn't make that mistake twice.

Hotch wasn't an ogre, for all he admitted that he could be a drill sergeant. He knew better than anyone that what his agents needed to be effective was balance and stability in their lives. He couldn't offer them stability, because that was the job, and there was nothing he could do about that. None of them would have taken him up on it anyway. Balance, he'd never been very good at. His failed marriage could attest to that. So he really had no problem that JJ and Prentiss had embarked upon this… whatever it was. They were happier and much better rested. They smiled more. They seemed… healthier, even. They had found their balance.

Hotch had failed at his own balance but he had made himself a promise that he wouldn't fail again. Two of his family – and yes, he considered them all family – were happy, and he would protect that no matter what. There might have been rules about fraternization, but as long as they kept it out of the field, he had no issue with them brushing hands as they delivered file folders to each other, or exchanging shy smiles as they passed each other in the corridors. Discreetly, he met with each of them, and made it clear that he knew about their relationship, and that he not only approved, but was prepared to fight for their right to keep their love and their jobs. Their ability to be professional had not slipped in the slightest, and it was his opinion that their happiness was actually enabling them to be even better at their jobs.

Emily and JJ's love was beautiful, and Hotch had seen enough ugly in his life to appreciate a little beauty when he saw it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

The call came in while JJ was sitting at her desk. For a while that morning she and Emily had been exchanging furtive, loving smiles from their respective desks, but this call was a sobering influence indeed. JJ's "Agent Jareau" face snapped into place as she listened intently to the details before hanging up and actually jogging to Hotch's office.

"Hotch? We caught a bad one. There's been a murder and a child has been abducted."

"When did it happen?"

"An hour ago," JJ replied tersely. "Evan Graham, 42, was in jail for domestic violence and stalking. He was released after serving four years of a seven year term, and the first thing he did was seek out his ex-wife, violating the terms of the restraining order which is still in effect. He…" JJ sighed. "He shot her, through the throat. She… died instantly. But she was pregnant, when Graham went away. The baby was – is – his. He's four now, and neighbors on the scene witnessed Graham snatching him and taking off."

"Wheels up in twenty. You can brief the team on the jet," Hotch made a snap decision.

All Emily knew of what was going on, was that JJ's smile had vanished and was replaced by a look of stress and worry. She got the order to grab her bag and get on board the jet and she did so without question, waiting for JJ's briefing.

"Evan Graham should be considered armed and dangerous. He's already murdered his ex-wife, Ann Wyatt, and he has their son Harrison. The boy is only four years old, and from what we've been told already, he has never met his father. This isn't some fun trip away with Daddy for him. He's probably terrified, because although Graham is probably insisting that Harrison call him "Daddy", to Harrison, he's a complete stranger."

Emily's heart sank. She knew, as did all the others, that most kidnappings resulted in the death of the child within the first twenty four hours. Even though this child was Graham's biological child, if he didn't comply with Graham's wishes, things could go very badly for him.

Before she knew it they were touching down in Tennessee, and splitting up to get the work done. According to Garcia, Graham had a small cabin somewhere in the woods, though she was unable to find the exact location. Satellite photos were no good, because the tree coverage was too dense to make anything out.

Time was ticking down when Emily broke off from the search party and headed one way up the track. In constant contact with the others via radio, she walked quickly and carefully up the path, deeper into the woods, eyes peeled for any sign of a cabin or similar structure. After about twenty minutes, she spotted something that might be it, and made her first mistake. Instead of radioing the others, she chose to get closer, not wanting to make a sound in case the Unsub had the child inside.

Emily felt a sharp blow to the back of her head and everything went dark.

* * *

When she woke up, everything was still dark, and she could tell by feeling that she was lying on a mattress and that she had been relieved of her gun and her radio. It was cold, where she was, and sort of… airless, but there was a patch of warmth along her left side, like hot water bottle, or…

As her eyes adjusted to the dark she could make out her surroundings a little better. There was one light patch, on the floor a few feet away from the mattress, but it seemed to be fading as the minutes ticked away. She rolled carefully, ignoring the pain in her head and the slight dizziness, to try to figure out what the source of the warmth was. She gasped as she realized that it was a little boy, fast asleep and tucked into her side.

From what she could tell, he was about three or four, but he looked too small to be the Wyatt boy, surely? "Hey, sweetie, can you wake up for me?" she said softly, testing her voice.

"Mommy?" the boy whimpered, coming awake slowly. He sat up with a jerk when he remembered where he was, and began to cry almost immediately. "I want my mommy, its dark in here and I'm scared and hungry and the bad man said I can't EVER go home!"

Emily stroked his back gently, inwardly panicking. She'd never been particularly good with children, mostly because she had never really had occasion to be around them before. "My name is Emily," she attempted, her standard opening with the children she encountered on cases. "What's your name?"

"H-Harrison David Wyatt," the little boy sniffled, and Emily's heart sank. This was the boy she had been searching for, and she was trapped, wherever he had been trapped. Now there was nothing she could do except wait and hope like hell that her team found them before Graham came back.

* * *

JJ hadn't heard from Emily all afternoon, but she'd been busy enough that it hadn't truly bothered her. Now it was getting on for sunset, and there was still no word. Even if she hadn't found the boy, even if she was still looking, surely she should have checked in by now. She stuck close by Reid's side as they continued canvassing the neighborhood around the mother's residence, but her attention was more on her phone and on the radio they all wore than on the people they were interviewing.

A picture was beginning to form. They had none of them been blind enough that they had missed the resemblance between Ann Wyatt and Emily Prentiss. Both of them were brunette, attractive, and slim with athletic frames. Ann had been dressed in nice clothes that spoke of money without needing to show it off and that was similar to the way Emily usually dressed. If Emily hadn't checked in, if she was missing – and JJ was aware that she was jumping the gun a little to assume that she was – then it wasn't outside the realm of possibility to think that Emily had come across the Unsub and that her resemblance to his stressor, his ex-wife who had neglected to tell him they had a child, had set him off.

The sun was well and truly down by the time JJ and Reid trudged into the precinct to relay what they had learned. Harrison had been born premature and never really caught up, size wise, so he was little for his age although he was perfectly healthy. The mother, Ann, had never spoken about her ex-husband, and most people had no idea who he was, let alone that he had been in jail, or what for.

Their clock was sitting at ten hours since anyone had seen the boy, and they were all painfully aware that time was running out.

As they all gathered, one member of the team was conspicuous by her absence. "Where's Emily?" JJ asked, an edge of fear creeping into her voice.

"I don't know, she stopped answering her radio so I came back to base, hoping that her unit had just malfunctioned or something," Morgan replied, his tone just as worried. "Don't tell me she's gone and got herself bashed around the head again." It was his feeble attempt at a joke to lighten the mood, but JJ was already feeling fragile at the idea that Emily was potentially missing, and Morgan's joke just made the tears in her eyes spill down her cheeks before she could stop them.

"Damnit," she swore. "That wasn't funny, Derek."

Morgan hadn't found anything on his search path, so they began working on the assumption that Emily had stumbled across something. Armed with flashlights, they made their way back to the fork in the path where Emily had branched off from the rest of the search team, and began attempting to retrace her steps in the dark.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

"When I woke up I thought you were my mommy," Harrison said in a small, doleful voice. Emily's heart broke to hear him so sad.

"I'm sorry," she said, feeling woefully inadequate.

"You look like her," he continued. "You have shiny black hair and brown eyes and you're pretty like she is. I thought she came to get me, but it was just you." Emily, sitting in the one chair in the room, sighed. Harrison walked up to her, holding his arms up as if he wanted to be picked up, so she lifted him into her lap awkwardly, surprised that he nestled right into her chest.

"What can you remember, about when the bad man came?" she asked carefully. Harrison's thumb had found its way into his mouth, so his answer, when it came, was muffled.

"He was mad," he said softly. "He had a gun and he was waving it around, and he said 'You should have told me! You should have told me!' And then there was a big bang and Mommy fell down. And he picked me up and started running, until we got to his truck."

"What color was the truck?"

"Um, blue," Harrison guessed. "He said he's my daddy and that I have to stay with him forever. But I don't want to. I want to go home to my mommy."

"You don't have to stay with him," Emily promised. She felt sick at having to say this, but she didn't know how he would take it if she promised him his mother, and then later had to turn around and tell him she had lied. "But your mommy… the bad man hurt her, Harrison. I'm so sorry."

Pulling back, he looked up at her, eyes teary. "Did the bad man send my mommy to heaven?" he whimpered.

Emily pulled him close and rocked him back and forth without answering. "I'm sorry," she repeated, wishing she could bear this hurt for him. "I'm so sorry baby. I'm sorry."

More than anything, she wished JJ were here. She wanted to be rescued. She wanted out of this room. She wanted… someone else to take over because she was sure she was screwing up incredibly badly with Harrison. JJ would be able to save them, but even if she were trapped down here with them, Emily was sure JJ would know what to do with Harrison, how to keep him calm and make him feel better, and she would do a much better job than this.

"Emmy," Harrison whimpered. "I'm hungry."

* * *

It was three in the morning, they'd found no sign of her, and JJ was getting frantic. Hotch ordered the team back to the hotel to sleep, because he knew better than they did that they weren't going to find anything that night, and that JJ was dangerously close to breaking down. He personally accompanied her back to her room, knowing that it was the room she was to share with Emily.

He stood in the doorway as she walked slowly further into the room. "Hotch?" she whimpered, turning to him with the saddest expression he'd ever seen on her face. "What… what am I going to do without her?"

For the first time since he'd met her, JJ dissolved into sobs right in front of him. For the first time since he'd met her, he didn't think twice before crossing the room and wrapping her in his arms. She didn't need a stern, staunch team leader right now. She needed the strength and stability of a friend. Maybe he wasn't always the best at opening up, but he wanted to be better, and he could only imagine how JJ must be feeling to have Emily missing.

She clutched at his shirt and cried for a few minutes, before pulling away. "Thanks," she said. Her cheeks were red, and he could tell she was embarrassed at her outburst.

"I get it," he told her softly. "It's always hardest… when it's the ones you love."

Wordlessly, she nodded.

* * *

Wherever he was keeping them, he'd outfitted it fairly well. Aside from the meager furniture, there was a makeshift toilet, and there were shelves along one side with boxes and cans of food. Emily was standing in front of these shelves, deciding what the hell she was going to make with no stove and no way to heat anything.

Harrison hadn't wanted her to put him down, and she supposed she could understand. In one fell swoop he'd been ripped from everything he knew and put somewhere dark and frightening. It made sense that he would want to stay close to the one comforting person around, especially when she factored in her apparent resemblance to the boy's mother. She kept expecting herself to make a mistake, to be in some way inadequate, but after getting out of the chair she'd stood and just picked him up, almost shocking herself at how natural it felt to settle him on her hip.

"What would you like to eat?" she asked, thinking out loud more than actually asking him. She could see canned peas and corn, and immediately disregarded them. The boy had been through enough. She wasn't about to add insult to injury by making him eat cold peas. But as she moved along the shelves, she spotted a winner. "How about, pears in syrup?" she suggested.

"I like pears," Harrison said helpfully.

"And… let's see. There's a box of cookies here, too." Emily had a brainwave. "I bet I can eat more cookies than you can."

"No you can't!"

"I bet I can!"

She grabbed the items off the shelf and opened them, and under the guise of their "competition", watched him fill his little belly with the food. It might not have been very nutritious, but he'd eaten, and that was the important thing. God willing, he would have a lifetime to rebel against eating his vegetables.

After their meal she took him back over to the mattress. It was dark, and Emily supposed that was because they were supposed to be asleep. She lay down, pulling a blanket over the two of them, and smiled softly as Harrison got comfortable, basically sprawling half on top of her.

"Will you sing to me?" he asked sleepily. It took her a moment of searching through her memory, but eventually Emily dredged up an old French lullaby she remembered her nanny singing to her when she was very small. In a voice that was soft and luxurious, if a little uncertain through lack of practice, she began to sing. He was asleep in moments, which left her alone in the dark to pray.

"Please, God… I just want to see her again," Emily breathed into the darkness. "Please, lead me back to her. Don't let me die down here in the dark."

* * *

At five in the morning Hotch's phone went off. "Sir, we've got him. Ann Wyatt's cell phone just turned on, and he's on the move."

Hotch sprang into action, leaping from his bed and pulling on his pants and reaching for his shirt where they had rested neatly on the chair. "Where is he, Garcia?"

"He's heading north, into the woods. I can't tell exactly what road he's on but it looks like he's heading for the same path Emily was taking… last night."

In minutes the rest of the team was assembling in the corridor outside their rooms, blinking blearily and rubbing their eyes. "We've got him," Hotch relayed. "He's going back, wherever that is."

Morgan's hand drifted to the gun at his side. "Well, then we have to get there first."

JJ was ready. She'd napped, fitfully at best, but she'd been on red alert waiting for her phone to go off. Of course, she'd half been expecting to hear that they had found Emily's body, as sick as the thought made her, so to hear that they had an actual lead on the Unsub had been almost a pleasant surprise.

It was too easy though, and they all knew it. None of them really believed that he would be stupid enough to use the phone of the woman he had stalked and murdered, and not expect to be caught. Every single one of them knew that whatever they were about to walk into, it wasn't going to be pretty.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

They parked the SUVs at the foot of the hills and got out, moving into formation and heading upwards. By now, the sun was starting to come up, which made things a lot easier. Aside from the obvious visual advantages, the fact that they didn't have to use flashlights to see meant that they weren't telegraphing their presence with the light, which had been a concern the night before.

What had taken Emily twenty minutes to stumble across by sheer accident took the others almost an hour to find before Gideon stiffened and signaled. Ahead, looming in the early morning mist was a small cabin. In moments they had it surrounded.

"This is the FBI!" Hotch bellowed. "Evan Graham, you are surrounded. Come out with your hands up!"

From within, there came a harsh laugh that sent a chill down JJ's spine. "It's just like an old western movie, isn't it agents?" they heard him shout back. "So is this the part where I tell you you'll never take me alive?"

Refusing to engage, Hotch continued. "Send out the boy and our agent and give yourself up. It's over, Graham. There's no way out."

"You can't have either of them!" Graham screamed. "The boy is mine, and he's with his mother! Leave my family alone!"

Hotch turned to JJ. "He's delusional," he barked swiftly. "He's blocked out the fact that his wife is dead, and he's substituted Emily in her place. He's using present tense to refer to them, not past tense, so they're alive. We're going to get her back, JJ."

Stealthily they crept around the cabin, taking up positions to try and get a good shot on him.

"Hotch," Reid murmured into his radio. "I can see right inside the cabin, and I see Graham, but there's no sight of Emily or the boy."

"They must be here somewhere," Morgan mumbled. "Why else would he come back here?"

"You're trespassing on private property!" Graham screamed. "I'm armed! I know my rights! I have the right to protect my land and my family from intruders!"

"Give it up, Graham!" Hotch bellowed again. "Your wife is dead. You have nothing left!"

* * *

Underground, all Emily could hear was muffled shouting, but she could guess what was happening. They were hostages, for all intents and purposes, and what she was hearing was the unmistakable sound of hostage negotiation taking place.

Harrison, without the benefit of her years and experience, was starting to look frightened again. That single ray of light was beaming down through what she had discovered was a tiny window, and she dragged the chair into the small patch of sunshine, settling in it with Harrison in her arms. She rocked him back and forth as the shouting continued.

"What's happening?" he asked fearfully.

"My friends are coming to get us," she said, doing her best to sound cheerful. "Would you like to hear a story about my friends?"

At his nod, she thought for a moment, and then smiled. As boring as their old case files could be, when she put a different sort of spin on them, they almost seemed like they could become epic tales of adventure. And so she spun a story for Harrison, featuring Sir Derek, the mighty knight on his noble steed; Spencer the Magnificent, wizard extraordinaire; King Aaron the noble and true; Penelope the Oracle, who knew all and saw all; and Princess Jennifer with the golden hair and eyes of blue. Perhaps Emily was a little biased, but as she spoke, the Princess Jennifer somehow became the star of the story and the focus of all those around her.

Before she knew it, though the shouting was still continuing, Harrison was asleep in her arms.

* * *

The sun was well and truly up by the time they got anywhere. After lengthy negotiations Hotch had managed to talk Graham down far enough to come to the window. He hadn't, however, agreed to give up his weapon.

"Hotch, we can't keep this up. Sooner or later we're going to have to go in," Morgan murmured.

"Come on, Graham. Let the boy go as a sign of good faith. He must be hungry. Let us get him some breakfast."

"You can't HAVE HIM!" Graham screamed. "That bitch wife of mine didn't want me to know about him, but I found out! I know everything about her! I know everything she did while I was away! I've had eyes on her this whole time! She thought she could hide from me! And now she's dead!"

"He's breaking," Hotch murmured urgently. "Whatever delusion was allowing him to substitute Emily for his wife, it's shattering. We have to go in, now." He gave the signal, and everyone readied their weapons.

From within, there was silence for a long moment while everyone outside the cabin held their breath. Finally, they heard the sound of footsteps. Graham appeared at the door, gun in hand.

"I'm not going back to jail," he declared. "I'd rather join the bitch in hell." He put the gun up to his head.

"No! Put it down!" Morgan bellowed, but the noise of the gunshot echoed through the little clearing.

Morgan reached him first. He was gone. JJ holstered her weapon, sprinting inside the cabin. At first she saw nothing, but as her eyes adjusted to the gloom she spotted the trapdoor, hauling it open and heading down the rough steps. Gun at the ready, she crept along the corridor that Emily had been dragged along, unconscious, the night before. At the end there was a door. It wasn't locked; it was just bolted on the outside.

"Emily?" JJ called cautiously.

"JJ, baby, I'm in here," Emily called back in a low voice. "I thought I'd never see you again, I thought…"

"I know," JJ replied quickly, quickly unlocking the door. She rushed in, preparing to grab Emily and embrace her tightly, but came up short at the sight of the tiny boy in her girlfriend's arms.

"Is that…?" she asked.

"This is Harrison," Emily said awkwardly, standing with the little boy still in her arms. "Where's Graham?"

"Dead," JJ said shortly. She leaned in, careful not to wake Harrison, and captured Emily's lips in a kiss that bordered on desperate. "I love you, Emily. God, I love you so much and I thought I'd lost you. Don't you ever do anything like this again, do you hear me? I NEED you!"

"I know, I'm sorry," Emily replied, tears springing to her eyes. "I was so scared, but not because of this… I was scared I'd never get to kiss you again…"

Harrison stirred, and as he woke, he realized that he and Emily were no longer alone in the room. "Emmy, who's that?" he whispered loudly.

JJ looked down at him. "My name is Jennifer," she said gently.

Though Harrison shied away from this new person and buried his face in Emily's neck, there was no mistaking what he said next. "Emmy, her name is Jennifer! Like the golden princess in the story!"

* * *

JJ led the way back outside, to the group of men that had secured the Unsub and were anxious to check on their missing team mate. Emily walked close behind JJ, blinking blearily at the bright sunlight after her enforced stay in the darkness, and saw the first aid crew that had evidently hiked up the path to check them out. "I'm fine," she insisted. "Check him out."

But as soon as she made as if to hand Harrison off to an EMT, he started panicking again. "No!" he cried. "Emmy, don't leave me!"

As badly as Emily wanted to seek her own comfort in JJ's arms, she couldn't just leave Harrison to panic. He was starting to hyperventilate, eyes wide and terrified at the idea that she was leaving him. In one swift motion, she made an apologetic face to JJ and scooped the little boy up, holding him tightly. "Ssh, baby. It's okay. I'm right here," she crooned to the sobbing boy. She remembered crooning those exact words to JJ plenty of times when the younger woman had had nightmares while they were sleeping together, and started to feel a little guilty, not wanting JJ to think Harrison was edging her out in Emily's affections.

JJ clung tightly to Emily's free hand, professionalism be damned. "Golden princess, huh?" she said finally. "What have you been telling him?"

Emily smiled, making her way over to where the EMTs had set up. She might not be able to put Harrison down, but she could take him over to be checked out. "I'll tell you the story one day," she promised. "It's all about a beautiful princess called Jennifer, and a knight called Derek, and their King, Aaron… and how they fight all the monsters and save the day and make everyone safe and live happily ever after."


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

All things come to an end, and Emily wasn't upset that this case was ending. She was a little upset that she was going to have to walk away from Harrison, though. In the short time they'd spent together, he'd got to her in a way she'd never expected a child to do. But she knew how these things went. He'd go to the next of kin, the closest living relative, or into the system. She'd go back to Quantico, fall into bed with JJ, and maybe cry a little about a world where something this terrible could happen to a little boy.

"Child Services just got back to me. There are no living relatives for Ann Wyatt, or at least, no one's stepping forward to claim the boy. They want to take him now, and try to get him settled in a group home for the night." Hotch looked tired, though he was trying to hide it.

"Is that really wise?" JJ asked, looking over at where Harrison sat, for the moment content in the warm circle of Emily's arms. She knew how he felt. She'd been in those arms, and she knew how safe Emily could make a person feel. "He's been through the wringer, Hotch. He watched his mother being shot, he was kidnapped by a stranger, he was kept underground for hours… if he's managed to find some small comfort in Emily, who are we to take that from him?"

Hotch frowned. "I know what you're saying, but there are rules, JJ. I can't just decide we're going to take this child home with us, especially across state lines."

"Maybe not, but I know you can pull strings," JJ shot back. "And if all else fails, Emily can pull the Ambassador's Daughter card if need be. I just… I don't see the sense in traumatizing him further by taking him away from Emily, to put him in a group home that he's only going to get moved out of in a couple of days anyway."

Sighing, Hotch looked over at Emily, holding the little boy on her lap and rocking him back and forth. He'd seen that look on a child's face before. That was the look Jack had on his face, as Hotch rocked him to sleep on the very rare occasions he'd had the chance. However short their acquaintance had been, a bond had formed between the child and the agent, and he knew JJ was right. A couple of days couldn't hurt, surely?

"I won't make Emily name drop her mother. You can tell her, if my string pulling turns out to be inadequate," he said in a gruff voice, turning away and pulling out his phone to make the call.

JJ smiled, letting her hand rest on his shoulder in silent gratitude before walking over to Emily and Harrison. She sat down beside them, a little hurt at the way Harrison stiffened and shrank into Emily as she did so.

"Remember, this is the golden princess?" Emily soothed him.

"She was in the stories," he said, sitting up a little and regarding her seriously. "There were the doggies with the evil spell on them, and you beat them all with your magic… what was it, Emmy?"

"She beat them with her magic Glock," Emily supplied. She could see that JJ was trying not to laugh, and blushed.

"What else did I do?" she asked.

"You tamed the wicked media beasts!" Harrison chirped, slowly warming up to the blond. He had been wary, but Emily liked her, and she hadn't tried to take him away from Emily, so he was starting to feel like she might be just as nice as she was in the stories. "You stood on the stage and used your words, to cast a magic spell, and it made their voices disappear!"

JJ couldn't help the peal of laughter that escaped her. "I know stories too, you know. I could tell you stories about Princess Emily. She's even more beautiful than Princess Jennifer, and she's much, much braver. She likes to ride to the rescue, kick doors down and vanquish all the bad guys with her… magic Glock… and save all the damsels in distress." Emily's face was bright red now, but JJ's teasing was gentle and loving. Harrison was eating it up. He squirmed out of Emily's arms, climbing from Emily's lap to JJ's and looking up at her lovingly.

"So you really are the golden princess?" he asked reverently, reaching up to touch her hair softly.

"I think I must be, if Emily said I am," JJ said, sitting very still so as not to spook him. She smiled, turning a little red at how Emily's story had painted her in such a flattering light.

"And Princess Emily… is she my Emily?"

JJ raised an eyebrow at the possessive implication in Harrison's statement, but nodded. "She's pretty, like a princess ought to be, isn't she?" Harrison nodded. "Maybe, if you're a good boy, I'll tell you a story where Princess Jennifer and Princess Emily fall in love and live happily ever after," she said quietly, looking in Emily's eye as she spoke.

* * *

As a direct result of Hotch's string pulling, Emily was allowed to take Harrison with her back to Quantico at least for a couple of days, until something more suitable could be found. Hotch granted both Emily and JJ a leave of absence for a week, assuming that it couldn't take longer than that to find a medium to long term placement for Harrison, and if it did, then they were to hand him off to Child Services regardless.

It fell to Emily to tell the little boy that he wouldn't get to go home to live, but she softened the blow by telling him that he was going to get to go on an airplane for what he told her was the first time in his short life. He could barely sit still as she took him back to the house briefly to pack up some of his things, and as he crossed the tarmac to the FBI jet, he skipped with excitement, hanging on to JJ and Emily's hands.

"Well, you two didn't waste any time getting nice and domestic," Morgan murmured to JJ as Emily strapped the little boy into a seat.

"This isn't my show, it's all Emily," JJ muttered back. "But you have to admit… she looks awfully comfortable with him, doesn't she? I would never have picked it."

"Well, he's an easy kid to take to," Morgan remarked. He himself had been utterly charmed when recognition had struck the little boy, and he'd pointed excitedly at Morgan and asked if he was Sir Derek from the stories. JJ and Emily had smirked at the way Morgan had puffed out his chest at being called a noble knight. After half an hour or so standing cautiously close to Morgan, Harrison had warmed up enough for Morgan to offer a piggyback ride.

"From noble knight to trusty steed," Emily had snorted, but there was no denying that it was a sweet sight. She'd snapped a picture for Garcia, knowing the tech would never forgive her if she missed out on seeing this.

Harrison had recognized the others too, slowly. After being introduced to Hotch he'd gasped, and struggled out of Emily's arms to kneel before "the king", prompting a bewildered look from Hotch and chuckles from the rest of the team, but once Harrison had got back on his feet, he'd grinned up at Hotch and giggled, and actually received a smile in return. Reid was currently proving his magician status by pulling a quarter out of Harrison's ear over and over again, which was doing an admirable job of distracting him from the discomfort of takeoff.

As they soared through the air Harrison gradually tired of the magic tricks and reached for Emily, who unfastened his belt and let him climb into her lap. "Sing me the song again," he mumbled sleepily, and after a sheepish glance around at the rest of the team, Emily had softly begun singing the French lullaby she had soothed him with underground.

JJ listened, enraptured, to the smooth and beautiful voice she'd never known Emily had. Harrison drifted into sleep, snuggled into Emily tightly, and giving JJ a chance to talk to her properly for the first time since they had been found.

"Why didn't you tell me you could sing?" she asked curiously.

"You would have made me sing to you," Emily teased, blushing. "Anyway, it's just an old lullaby one of my many nannies used to sing to me. It's not like I'm world class or anything. It puts him to sleep."

"You're amazing," JJ whispered. "I think that little boy loves you already, Emily, and I can't say I blame him. I'm pretty crazy about you too."


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

He'd looked out the window and seen the clouds and the land far below. The fields had looked like handkerchiefs, and he could see the streams and rivers winding around like little blue snakes everywhere. The man called Reid wasn't just good at magic. He also had candy in his pocket!

And King Aaron knew stories too, even if his didn't have any of the same characters as Emmy's stories. King Aaron's stories were about Goldilocks and the three bears, and about a girl called Rapunzel with long, long hair. King Aaron's face seemed kind of red when he told stories, though, and he kept looking at the other people like he thought they might be laughing at them, even though when Harrison looked around, they were all busy reading or sleeping.

Emmy was sleeping now, and Princess Jennifer told him not to wake her up, but they didn't understand. The bad man had taken away his mommy, but Harrison had it all figured out. God, or maybe the angels, had known what the bad man was going to do, and so they'd sent him Emmy to take care of him. She was pretty and even looked like his mommy, and she smelled nice and sang pretty songs.

He squirmed out of Princess Jennifer's lap and curled up next to Emmy on the couch she was sleeping on. Carefully, gently, he kissed her forehead, like his mommy used to do to him, and closed his eyes.

* * *

"The boy is obviously attached to Prentiss," Hotch remarked, when he'd got over the embarrassment of actually knowing children's stories well enough to retell them. His agents, out of respect of self-preservation, were carefully not mentioning this previously unknown talent. "At the risk of sounding sentimental, it's nice to see Emily so… soft, for a change. Her behavior and conduct as an agent of the FBI are obviously beyond reproach, but seeing her with this child…"

"It's beautiful," JJ supplied wistfully. "It's brought out a side of her none of us even knew existed. I don't think even she knew that she had even a scrap of maternal instinct."

"And how are you feeling about this new development?" Hotch asked her carefully. "To put it bluntly, it wasn't so long ago you were in the same position the boy is in now, burrowing into Prentiss for comfort and refusing to leave her side. Of course, you had something of an excuse in that you were practically delirious with fever."

Indignantly, JJ sat up straighter and rounded on Hotch, ready to defend her own honor, when she saw the twinkle in Hotch's eye. He was teasing her, she realized, too late to mask her initial response. "Jerk," she muttered, hiding a smile.

"Excuse me, Agent Jareau?" Hotch asked, feigning reproach at her remark.

"You're a jerk, sir," JJ amended with a smirk.

* * *

After they touched down Emily hoisted Harrison onto her hip. "I don't have a car seat for him," she realized with a groan. She was just beginning to realize how much she had taken on, and how unprepared she was for the reality of looking after a child.

"I have one of Jack's booster seats in the trunk of mine," Hotch said, surprisingly. "It should tide you over." He grabbed the seat and helped Emily set Harrison up in the back seat of her car. He protested being buckled in as Emily backed out of the car, but she showed him that she was only going to the driver's seat.

JJ settled into the passenger seat and smiled back at Harrison. "See? It's okay. Emily's going to drive us home, and then we can have some food. What do you like to eat?"

The boy visibly relaxed as Emily got in the car as promised. "Can we have burgers?" he asked.

Emily reached out and took JJ's hand, lacing their fingers together and shooting her a look of love. "Yes, we can have burgers," she said to Harrison. "Is it okay if the princess comes home with us?"

Harrison nodded. "I like her," he said to Emily, ignoring the fact that JJ was right there in the car. "She doesn't have dark hair like you or mommy, but you were right, her hair is golden like sunshine. And she's pretty, and she smells good, and she gives good hugs."

"Well, would you look at that," Emily remarked dryly to JJ. "Looks like you're a keeper, Princess Jennifer."

* * *

Hours later when they had eaten, Emily tucked Harrison up in the big bed in her guest room. It wasn't really a kid-friendly room, but she figured she could go shopping in the morning. In the meantime, the bed was big enough that he wasn't likely to fall out. She took the lamp off the bedside table and set it down on the floor by the door, turning it on as a makeshift nightlight.

"You remember where the bathroom is?" she asked, stroking his hair gently.

"Across the hall, count two doors, and that's the bathroom," he recited obediently. "And if I get lost, follow the lights." Emily had set up more makeshift nightlights all the way to the bathroom, almost like an airstrip's approach lights, so there could be no confusing where he had to go, if he had to go.

"And you remember where I'll be?" she checked.

"You're the big door at the end of the hall," he said, eyes drooping. "Why can't I sleep with you?"

Emily blushed. "Because you're a big boy, and big boys get their own rooms and their own beds," she hedged, not wanting to admit that the real reason was "because the princess is bunking with me".

"Okay." Harrison yawned, his little hand reaching up to cup Emily's face. "I love you, Emmy."

Emily's breath caught in her throat, but she smiled at him through suddenly watery eyes. "I love you too, little man," she whispered back.

* * *

"He's asleep," she said as she plopped down on the couch next to JJ.

"You are amazing with him," JJ breathed, leaning into her. "I've never seen anything like it. It actually made my heart hurt a little, watching you soothe him after his panic attack back at the cabin." She leaned in for a soft kiss. "It isn't hard to see why he loves you."

Emily kissed back just as gently, but then something came over her. She stood, taking JJ by the hand and leading her down the hall to her bedroom. As soon as the door was closed behind them, she grabbed JJ by the shoulders, pushing her up against the door and kissing her hard.

"I've been waiting all damn day to do this," she gasped, feeling like she could devour this woman. "I need you close, JJ…"

"I'm here," JJ panted, kissing back just as desperately. "God, Emily… you feel so good…"

Abandoning JJ's lips, much to the younger woman's dismay, Emily made it up to her by turning her attention to JJ's neck, nibbling lightly and darting her tongue out to taste. It was, she realized through her haze of desire, the most intimate thing they had done to date, and she also realized that she didn't want to stop, not yet. She wanted JJ crazy, wanted her moaning and desperate, and she knew just how to do it.

She kissed up JJ's neck to her ear and, after dragging her tongue around the soft curve, she began whispering urgently. "I want you," she groaned. "I want to feel you next to me. I want to discover every inch of you…" She let out a hot breath, right into JJ's ear, feeling the precise moment when JJ's knees buckled and deftly catching her.

"Are you sure?" JJ moaned, her voice high pitched and needy. "You really wanna do this?"

Kissing and touching, yes, Emily wanted those. But she knew that as much as she had led JJ on, she still wasn't ready to take the final plunge. "I want to be close to you," she said, backing off a little and setting JJ back on her feet. "I might not be ready for… everything, but I'm ready for this."

"Just say when," JJ said quietly, kissing Emily again. Her hands traced up Emily's side, then began unbuttoning her blouse, pushing it off her shoulders. Emily said nothing, just returned the kiss, still pushing herself close. JJ, boldly, unbuckled Emily's belt, waiting to be stopped, but Emily just shimmied out of her pants, kicking them aside and meeting JJ's gaze with vulnerable eyes.

"You're gorgeous," JJ whispered, looking at the brunette in nothing but a tank top and panties. "You're… trembling! Emily, baby, we don't have to do anything you're not ready for."

"I've got… scars," Emily said bashfully. "And I'm kind of… I have angles, with my hips. And I have weird knees."

"You're gorgeous," JJ repeated seriously. She walked Emily back towards the bed, pressing soft kisses to her mouth and helping her under the covers before undressing down to her own underwear and climbing in. "Every part of you is gorgeous, even the bits you don't like. Like this nose…" JJ's eyes got teary all of a sudden. "I came so close to never seeing this nose again," she choked. "These eyes… this beautiful smile… I almost lost all of it. I almost lost you."

Emily held her tightly. "I promise, I won't do anything like that again," she vowed. "I'll stick with Morgan, or Reid, or Hotch. I'll never go anywhere without a partner. I'll come home to you, JJ. Every night, I'll come home to you… if you promise you'll do the same for me."

"I promise," JJ nodded, clinging to Emily.

Wrapped around each other, in the least amount of clothing they'd ever worn in front of each other, Emily and JJ fell asleep – with JJ's hand well and truly clutching Emily's tank top, like she would rather die than let her go.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

It was morning. Emily and JJ lay, still wrapped in each other, gazing into each other's eyes silently. Emily's fingertips were tracing up and down JJ's arms, across her shoulders, down her sides, and all the while JJ's breathing was becoming more and more labored. Slowly, Emily closed the gap between them, kissing her slowly but thoroughly as she let herself just barely brush the side of JJ's breast through her thin top.

JJ sighed, pressing herself closer. She was just about to return the soft touches when there was a soft thump, and a series of little pattering footsteps in the hallway. The bathroom door closed. The toilet flushed, and the bathroom door opened again.

"He's up," Emily whispered.

JJ stole one last hungry kiss, hastily pulling away as the bedroom door inched open and Harrison's little face appeared. "Emmy, can I come in?"

"Come here, little man," she invited, patting the bed between her and JJ and sitting up slightly. He ran to the foot of the bed, scrambled up with only a little difficulty, and climbed up to join them. In moments he was snuggled between them.

"I didn't know where I was, and then I remembered you," he said. "How come I had to be a big boy and have my own bed and the princess gets to sleep with you?"

Not knowing how to answer that, Emily looked at JJ with something approaching panic in her eyes. But JJ had no more answers than she did. Finally, Emily fudged a reply. "Um, well, JJ – the princess – she's my friend, and sometimes friends have slumber parties."

"You looked like Billy's mommies," the little boy went on, completely matter of fact as he got comfortable with his head resting on Emily's chest. "Billy's my friend from preschool, and he said, some people have a mommy and a daddy, but some people have two mommies. And his mommies, they hold hands, and kiss, and snuggle sometimes. Is that what you were doing?"

Emily still didn't know how to have this conversation. If he had been her own child, she might have been more comfortable being the one to decide what to tell him about adult relationships and homosexuality, but the fact of the matter was, she was going to have to give him up in less than a week, and she didn't want to get accused of filling his head with filth, if the people he went to weren't as open minded as she was. "Well, I think it's nice that Billy has two people who love him and care about him," she said diplomatically.

"Maybe you can be my new mommy," Harrison said. "I want you to. I love you, Emmy."

JJ stroked Harrison's hair gently, smiling when he didn't automatically shy away from her touch like he had done to begin with. "Somewhere out there, there's a nice lady who is just waiting to be your mommy," she said softy. "But we won't get to choose who that is, baby."

When she looked up, she was surprised to see that two fat tears were rolling down Emily's cheeks. She held the little boy tightly. "I want him," she mouthed to JJ, just as shocked to be saying it as JJ was to hear it.

* * *

It was decided that the three of them, after a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, would go shopping in the morning and then to the playground in the afternoon. While JJ helpfully kept Harrison's attention occupied with stories about Princess Emily and her magic Glock, Emily spent most of the morning on her phone. She called Hotch first and told him what she wanted to do. She figured he would be the hardest person to sell on her admittedly crazy plan, and she was surprised at how little persuading it took to get him to agree that it would be best for Harrison if he stayed with Emily… permanently.

Her next call was to her mother to explain the situation. Predictably, her mother ran through the list of reasons why this was a terrible idea. Emily worked long hours, she had to travel all the time, she had no experience with children, and she was used to living alone. How would she care for a child who had been through such a traumatic experience?

But Emily countered each of her arguments, thanks to the previous conversation she had had with Hotch. She did work long hours and travel a lot, but Hotch had agreed to allow her a period of "maternity leave" if this went ahead. There was daycare, there was Garcia in a pinch, and Emily was prepared to give up the BAU, if not the FBI, if it turned out that she couldn't still do her job while being a parent. She didn't have any experience with children, no, but it seemed like running on instinct was working well. Harrison trusted her, and that was no small thing. Finally, Emily stopped her mother in her tracks with one statement, the honesty and emotion in her tone getting her point across far better than her words ever could.

"He needs me, mother."

Reluctantly, Elizabeth Prentiss gave her blessing and support, even if it took being sent a photo of Emily with Harrison in her eyes to truly believe what was happening.

* * *

"What about us?" Emily asked JJ as Harrison scrambled all over the monkey bars. They were standing far enough back that they could speak quietly and not be overheard, but close enough that they could run in and catch him if he fell.

"What about us?" JJ shot back.

"If I do this… if they let me foster him, adopt him… will you still…?" Emily didn't really know how to ask what she was asking.

"Will I still want you?" JJ clarified. "Will I still want to be with you, when there's a child in the picture? Am I prepared to not only date a woman, but a woman with a child?"

"All of the above," Emily murmured. "But that's not the biggest one." Seeing JJ waiting for her to elaborate, she sighed. "Jay… I know we've only been together such a short time, but I was serious about all the things I've said to you. I don't ever want to give you up… I thought maybe we could do this… together."

JJ took a deep breath. "Wow," was all she could say. She searched Emily's eyes, not sure what she was looking for. Reaching over, Emily laced their fingers together and squeezed gently.

"What are you thinking?" Emily whispered, frightened.

JJ was silent. Minutes ticked by, and Emily started to squirm, her heart racing as she waited for the younger woman to answer.

"JJ, what are you thinking?" she begged.

JJ looked up at her, face serious, and then let her lips curve in a reassuring smile. "Do you think, when your maternity leave is up, Hotch will let me take the maternity leave I'M entitled to and just… tack it on the end of yours?" she asked, answering Emily without answering her at all. Emily's face lit up, that dazzling, rare smile spreading as she grabbed JJ in a tight hug and spun her around.

Harrison saw them and climbed down, running over. "No fair, I want hugs too!" he squealed, and Emily broke away from JJ in time to catch him up in her arms and spin him around too. He reached up and touched her face gently. "Why are you crying, Emmy?" he asked, frowning.

Joining their hug, JJ's face was just as tear streaked. She was well aware of the commitment she had just made, and she knew in her heart that it was the right thing to do. She'd never felt more certain about a decision in her life. "She's happy," she told the little boy. "And I'm happy too."


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/security.

Emily hadn't known how much would be involved in getting custody of Harrison. There was an enormous amount of legislature she had to prove she was in compliance with, although much of it – such as her background check and her health check – was either expedited or mitigated by the fact that she'd already been through it for her job and she worked for the FBI.

Most of the BAU members had gone through first responder training because of the nature of the job and the dangers they faced every time they were out on a case, and this also was a big factor in Emily's favor. However, there was the small matter of the thirty hours training that DC required of her before she could be licensed to foster children. She called to make the appointment to start, but they didn't have an opening until the following Monday, which was after Hotch's deadline of a week to find him a placement.

When she explained this, he relented, extending her leave of absence while warning her he needed JJ back. The three of them spent the rest of the week together, going on all sorts of fun, kid-friendly outings and generally spending time together as the family Emily hoped they would become. Now JJ had reluctantly gone back to work, and all that was left to do was shop.

"What are we buying today, Emmy?" Harrison asked, trotting along beside her and holding on tight to her hand. Seeing how busy the mall was, Emily decided to pick him up and carry him. She had seen too much to let the little boy be snatched in the midst of a crowd.

"Today, we are buying clothes, bedding, and groceries," Emily informed him. It was her first day without JJ helping her, and she was hoping and praying that she could get through it all by herself. "I thought that maybe this afternoon we could bake some cookies for JJ and surprise her when she gets home from work."

Harrison cheered, bouncing up and down on her hip. Emily regarded him quietly. He seemed to be taking all the changes in his life remarkably well – too well, if she knew her child psychology. He hadn't asked about his mother beyond checking a couple of times that she was indeed in heaven. Part of her knew that the only reason he was so okay, was this connection he had formed with her. In his head he had already slotted her into the "mommy" position. She hoped like anything that she could get through the training and the paperwork, jump through the hoops and prove him right.

She was having trouble believing just how… good he was. Truthfully, she had been expecting him to throw tantrums over some of her choices. She had started requiring him to eat vegetables, and try new things, for example. She refused to have a picky eater on her hands, and so she intended to train it out of him if indeed the tendency was there. She had a hard and fast rule that he had to eat three big bites of everything put on his plate before he could tell her he didn't like it. He'd given her a look of defiance for all of three seconds the first time she'd told him that, then complied without a word. She and JJ had praised him heartily when he was done, and he hadn't had a problem since.

Perhaps it was just that his mother had set clear boundaries for him, and had had definite consequences. Emily supposed she would never know, but she was grateful for this well behaved, loving, sweet little boy.

Buying clothes for Harrison was surprisingly fun for both of them. She had to admit she probably went a little overboard, especially considering she expected him to grow out of them inside of six months, but she couldn't help herself. She varied her purchases. She picked out sweater vests and corduroys with button down shirts that made him look like a mini-Reid; she chose t-shirts and cargo pants and found a little leather jacket and a pair of combat-like boots so that he could look like a baby Morgan, and, perhaps her most guilty and pleasurable purchase, she had him fitted for a very Hotch-like suit complete with tie. Then, mindful that he was just a little boy, she stocked up on generic kid clothing that he could get dirty in.

"Emmy, there's no room for me in the cart," he remarked as he looked down at the many bags they had accumulated.

"You're right," she laughed. "I guess Emmy got a little carried away, huh?"

They loaded up Emily's SUV and then, with Harrison in the seat of the cart, braved the grocery store. Emily was growing bolder with her singing to him, though she still wasn't comfortable venturing outside her comfort zone of exclusively French songs. She sang him an upbeat little ditty that popped into her head as they cruised up and down the aisles.

"Your little boy is just precious," said a voice, and Emily whipped round, hand going to her hip reflexively. A little old lady stood there smiling at them, and Emily allowed herself to relax.

"He's…" It was on the tip of her tongue to explain that he wasn't hers, but she changed her mind at the last moment, trying how claiming him as her son sounded on her tongue. "He's something, isn't he?" she said at last. Then she smirked, winking at Harrison. "He's a little on the scrawny side, so I considered just tossing him back in the river with the other small fry, but look at this face." She grabbed Harrison's face with both hands, leaning in and covering his cheeks with big, theatrical smoochy kisses. He squealed with laughter, loving the attention. "He's a keeper."

"He looks just like his mama," the little old lady went on cheerfully, beaming at their interaction. "He'll break hearts someday – both of you are great beauties."

"Ah, thanks," Emily said awkwardly. This conversation had officially turned a little too personal for her liking. "Well, it was nice to meet you."

The lady reached out to tousle Harrison's hair innocently, and then started at Harrison's reaction. He flinched back violently and practically scrambled out of the cart's little seat, leaping into Emily's arms. There it was. Emily sighed as he clung to her and buried his face in her neck. The fear response, the residual trauma she had been expecting. He'd taken so well to the members of the team, she had half thought that he was just naturally gregarious and resilient, but now she could see it for what it was. Her stories had convinced him ahead of time that they were all noble and kind, and meeting them had been more like meeting his heroes than meeting strangers. This lady hadn't featured in any story. She was a stranger to him, and he was afraid of her.

"Sorry. He's… shy," Emily apologized in that same awkward tone. The lady's face seemed to pucker in disapproval and she walked away, muttering about "bad parenting" and "socialization" as she left.

* * *

Later that afternoon as the cookies were cooling on the kitchen counter, Emily lay Harrison down on the couch and put on some afternoon cartoons for him. She'd read about baby massage, and wondered if it would help him. Tentatively, she began stroking his back gently. She didn't take his shirt off – there were still home visits to contend with and while she wasn't doing anything untoward, she didn't want Harrison to say anything and have it be misconstrued. He seemed to relax into her touch, so she kept going, just rubbing his back and being close to him. He was almost asleep when there was a knock at the door.

"Stay here," she told him, and went to open it. It was Hotch, bearing a folder and a giftwrapped box.

"I come bearing gifts," he said in his usual serious tone. "For you, Prentiss, I have paperwork. I couldn't – and wouldn't – get them to waive the training, but I did get a rush on the rest of the red tape. We had some interjurisdictional issues, given that we brought Harrison from Tennessee to DC, but I got through most of those. Do not ever ask me how." He gave her his standard issue frown and sneaky wink.

She could have kissed him for that, but she doubted whether JJ would have appreciated it much.

"And for the man of the house, I have… this," he said in a softer tone, and at Emily's nod, walked over to the couch and sat down next to Harrison. "This is for you," he said, handing the box to the little boy.

He, too, checked with Emily before opening it, but at her nod went ahead. Inside there was a child's baseball mitt, and he looked up at Hotch in surprise. "Tommy has a mitt like this!" he exclaimed. "His daddy plays catch with him. Tommy says his mommy is no good at it though." Looking up at Emily, he frowned. "Is Emmy any good?"

Hotch actually grinned at them. "I don't know, but if she turns out to be no good, you let me know. I'll bring Morgan and we'll all play catch together some afternoon." Emily's eyes widened. Not only was Hotch bringing the little boy gifts, but offering to play catch? He really must have hidden depths. She'd always known he must have, but... well. Much as she hated to admit it, she and Hotch were a lot alike. They were full on, job oriented, and didn't let much show outside of that.

"What do you say, Harry?" Emily said, using the shortened form of his name for the first time.

"Thank you, King Aaron," he recited dutifully. Emily noticed he was still using the nicknames from her story, and sighed slightly. It just reinforced the idea that he was only comfortable with the BAU team because they had featured in her story. She decided to look into pediatric therapists in the morning.

Hotch left just as JJ was getting home and to his credit, didn't say a word about meeting her there. Harrison ran to greet her, leaping into her arms and surprising both women. Excitedly, he told her about the cookies they had made for her as she carried him into the living room, set him down, and gave Emily a quick kiss hello.

"I've got good news and bad news," Emily sighed, beginning to tell JJ about her day.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

As the days went on they fell into a routine. Harrison would wake up and climb into bed with Emily and JJ. JJ would reluctantly leave the bed to get ready and go to work. Emily, having found a suitable therapist for Harrison, would take him for a session mid-morning. He seemed like he was doing well, although Emily admitted she was no expert. He drew a lot of pictures, and though they started with him and his mother standing outside a house, gradually they began to change until they regularly featured Emily and JJ instead of his mother. Hotch and Morgan made appearances sometimes, too.

Emily had been astounded one Saturday to have Hotch show up on her doorstep again, this time in jeans and a sweater, brandishing a baseball. "You… actually came to play catch with him?" she said in surprise. But that wasn't the only surprise. Hiding behind Hotch's leg, was Jack. He peeked out and waved shyly.

"I thought it might be good for Harrison to practice being around other children," Hotch said awkwardly. "He's going to be going back to school soon enough and I thought…"

"I know. It's a great idea," Emily said warmly. She smiled at Jack and held out her hand. "Can I introduce you to my friend Harrison?" she asked him, and he nodded, taking her hand and following her.

* * *

The morning had not gone well. Harrison had, predictably, been shy to the point of standoffishness with Jack, prompting Jack to call him a baby and tell Hotch that he wanted to go home. Harrison was currently firmly ensconced in JJ's lap, thumb in his mouth, not really doing anything to disprove Jack's claims of him being a baby.

Hotch had a brainwave, and asked to use the phone after murmuring a few words to Emily, who brightened and nodded. JJ produced a soccer ball and began kicking it around with Jack, and Emily scooped Harrison up and took him to get changed out of his "Reid" clothes and into some more kid-appropriate clothes.

Hotch summoned the team – not for a case, for the first time in their lives. He summoned them for their very first family picnic.

With the others there, Harrison slowly began to come out of his shell. He knew and trusted the other adults, and seeing them interact with Jack, the only unfamiliar face, boosted his courage. By the time lunch was ready the two boys were engaged in an elaborate game of "catch me if you can" mixed with "king of the castle" with a hint of "cops and robbers". Morgan was the bad guy, chasing them around the backyard pretending to be a dragon. Even Hotch and Reid were playing, pretending to try to catch Morgan and insisting that they needed Harrison and Jack's help.

Emily reached out and grabbed JJ's hand as she passed her after bringing a load of plates out to the makeshift picnic area. Wrapping her arms around the younger woman from behind, she nuzzled her neck playfully and sighed. "Look at this," she said softly. "Somehow this little boy turned our little pseudo-family into a real family. He's got Hotch running around the backyard trying to lasso Morgan with the cord from my bathrobe. And…" she trailed off, kissing JJ sweetly. "I have you, too. And you are the best gift of all."

JJ grinned, watching the boys – all five of them – charging around like fools. "I never thought I'd see Reid play," she remarked. She turned in Emily's arms and kissed her properly, not caring that their whole team could see them, including their boss. "I never thought I'd feel love like this. You're perfect, and I'm so happy you're letting me share this with you." She bit her lip. "You know… any time you're ready… I am too."

Emily knew what she was talking about and frowned. "I'm not," she said guiltily. "I'm getting there, but I'm just not there yet."

"Is there anything I can do?" JJ asked. "I mean… you trust me, don't you?"

"It's not that," Emily said. "Can we not talk about this now? Everyone's here and I really don't want to have this conversation in front of them."

"When can we have it then?" JJ asked.

Emily pulled out of the embrace and sighed. "JJ, please, just stop pushing," she said shortly. "You said we didn't have to do anything I wasn't ready to do. I'm not ready to talk about this while all our friends are here."

"We can talk later though?" JJ tried again. Emily sighed, but nodded, then turned to scoop Harrison up as he zoomed past. JJ tried to catch Jack, but he dodged, and instead Morgan charged her and slung her over his shoulder, carrying her to the food. She squealed, laughing as she tried to get free. She beat her fists on his back but to no avail – she didn't get free until he set her down.

Emily smiled at the scene but her heart was slightly heavy. She'd been putting this conversation off, but it seemed like it couldn't wait any longer.

* * *

By the time the sun was setting, Jack and Harrison were firm friends. Harrison had got over his terror of meeting a new person, and Jack seemed to have forgotten all about his assertion that Harrison was a baby.

At Jack's insistence, they had turned the day of fun into a sleepover for the boys. Emily had tucked the two of them up in Harrison's big bed once they'd thoroughly tired themselves out. Harrison didn't really need the nightlight runway to find the bathroom anymore, but Emily set it up just in case Jack needed it in the night. Hotch, not wanting to leave Jack by himself this first night in Emily's house, was set up on the couch. He wore sweats and an FBI shirt from his go-bag which was in the back of his car. Morgan, begged by Harrison to stay, had grabbed HIS go-bag and ended up crashed on an air mattress next to the couch. Emily and JJ retired to the bedroom.

Emily could tell that JJ was itching to get on with it, to have this conversation she had been avoiding, but she wanted to have a couple of moments of happiness before this all hit the fan. They donned proper pajamas, in deference to Hotch and Morgan's presence, and got into bed, settling close to each other. Emily leaned in for a kiss… and that was all she got before JJ began.

"We need to talk," she asserted, and Emily sighed.

"I know."

"This thing between us… I love you, and I love everything we do, but I have to be honest with you. I want to touch you, Emily. I want to feel you against me. I want to make love to you, and I want you to make love to me. I thought that's where this was heading, but it doesn't seem like you want it the way I do. So I have to ask… did I do something wrong?"

"No!" Emily rushed to assure her.

"Is it that I'm a woman? I mean, is it not… what you expected?" JJ asked, looking vulnerable. "Honestly, I thought I would have trouble with… you know. Being with a woman, because there's no… extra appendages." She blushed. "But I find more and more that it doesn't matter to me, because I don't love… appendages, I love you."

"I love you too," Emily said. "It's just not that simple."

"Well then what is it?" JJ asked, getting impatient. "Sex is a normal, healthy part of an adult relationship. I thought that's what we had. Are you just not attracted to me?"

"God, I'm so attracted to you I can't stand it!" Emily snapped. "I can hardly breathe sometimes when we're in bed like this because I want you so damn badly. I would love nothing more than to strip you down and drag my tongue over every inch of your skin until I know just how to make you come apart under my hands."

JJ gasped at her words, squirming a little. "So then why don't you? You have to know that these things you want… I want them too." She knew that her arousal was evident in her voice, in her movements, and she couldn't understand why Emily didn't just take the plunge.

"I can't, because I don't want you to leave me!" Emily almost shouted, and then hid her face in the covers.

"Baby… I would never leave you," JJ said slowly, stunned.

"Plenty of people say that," Emily said, voice muffled by the blanket. "And I give in. And for that night, it's good. And in the morning, I wake up just early enough to watch them gather their clothes and slip out of the front door, thinking they're being so stealthy."

JJ slipped under the covers with Emily and kissed her cheek, nuzzling her gently. "I would tell you that I'm not like them, but I don't know that you'd believe me," she said softly. "I can only show you with my actions that I'm not going anywhere. I want to be with you, and I really feel like I'm in this for the long haul. I want to raise that little boy with you, Em. I don't know how much more serious I can be."

"No one's ever wanted me for more than a night after I put out," Emily whispered, her expression full of pain. "So as much as I love you, as much as I want you, I just… I'm afraid to do that with you, because I can't lose you."

JJ gathered the brunette in her arms and held her tightly. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I'm sorry that the world is full of idiots and morons who didn't know how lucky they were to have you."

Emily held her tightly. "Jay, I'm probably not worth waiting for. If sex is something you need, then I'd understand if you… couldn't do this anymore."

"Don't be a damn fool," JJ said, shifting closer. "I wish you had just told me. I would never have pushed so hard if I had understood… but now that I do…" She kissed the top of Emily's head. "I can wait as long as you need, as long as you'll listen when I tell you this. I'm not like those others. I want you for much, much longer than one night. I want you for all the nights. Do you understand?"

Emily nodded slowly. Truth be told, she was SO ready to take the final plunge with JJ, she just needed to know that in doing so, she wouldn't lose the blond forever. "Maybe… when Hotch isn't on the couch, and Morgan's not snoring on the floor next to him… we can try it."

"It's a date," JJ said softly.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

JJ woke to the smell of bacon. She could feel that Emily was still in the bed with her, so then who was responsible for the bacon… She remembered that Hotch and Morgan had slept over, and smiled. "Em," she murmured, shaking the brunette awake gently. "The boys are cooking us breakfast."

Emily came awake with a luxurious stretch and settled back in JJ's embrace. "Does that mean we have to get up?"

Her question was answered by a knock at the door. All four "boys" trooped in, Hotch and Morgan grinning and carrying plates of bacon, eggs and pancakes, and Jack and Harrison carefully carrying glasses of juice. Emily felt her heart melt. "You made us breakfast in bed?" she asked, eyes filling with tears.

"It was Harrison's idea," Morgan said with his easy smile.

"I saw it on TV one time," Harrison explained, setting the juice on the bedside table and reaching for Emily to pick him up and lift him into the bed. Jack, on the other side, looked shy for a moment before JJ reached out and lifted him, kissing his cheek.

"Sweet, thoughtful boys get kisses," she told him seriously, hugging him. He made a big deal of wiping it off, but he couldn't hide his grin. JJ gestured for Hotch to lean closer, and pecked him on the cheek too – and he mimicked Jack, making all of them giggle. Emily gave Harrison a big smooch on his cheek before snagging the front of Morgan's t-shirt and dragging him down for his kiss.

"I could get used to this," Emily said.

* * *

After breakfast, Morgan and Hotch offered to take the boys to the movies, and Emily couldn't see why not. There was something she wanted to try…

"Just… don't let any strangers touch him," she warned the men as they prepared to leave. "He's terrified of that. If the crowd gets thick, pick him up and carry him, please?"

"He'll be fine, Mom," Morgan teased her. "Hotch has done this once or twice before. Besides, Little Man will have his noble steed Morgan at his side."

Emily hugged Harrison tightly then watched him walk out the door with the others, perfectly cheerful. She turned to JJ and sniffled. "This is the first time since… I found him, that he's been away from me," she said. "How stupid is it that I miss him already?"

"It's not stupid at all," JJ assured her. "So, what do you want to do with our day alone?"

Taking her by the hand, Emily led her back up to the bedroom. She pushed JJ down on the bed gently, and straddled her hips, looking down at her thoughtfully. "Can you just… let me try this?" she asked softly. JJ looked up at her and nodded, trying to reassure her with just a look.

Emily started with the lightest of kisses to JJ's mouth, then worked her way lower, exploring the small amount of skin her pajamas exposed. Slowly, she began to unbutton the pajama shirt, pressing her lips to each newly exposed inch of skin. She could feel JJ's chest rise and fall as her breathing grew more labored – she wore nothing under the pajama shirt, and soon her bare breasts were exposed to Emily's gaze. And Emily looked. For long moments, she looked at JJ, her own breathing getting heavier as her hand reached up to touch.

JJ couldn't help the moan that escaped her, eyes fluttering closed as Emily's fingers traced around the lower curves of her breasts. She bit her lip, trying not to move and spook Emily from her exploration. She gasped as Emily leaned down suddenly and kissed her, hard. "Em," she groaned.

Slightly bolder now, Emily traced her fingers over JJ's nipples, watching in fascination as they hardened under her touch. "I've never been with a woman," she said, voice slightly strangled. "I don't even know how… But God, you're so beautiful."

"You're doing a good job so far," JJ whimpered. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"No," Emily said honestly. "But I don't think I ever will be… not unless I try it. I have to try trusting you." She plucked JJ's nipples gently between thumb and fingers, momentarily distracted by the reaction it got. "You promise you won't…" she whispered, unable to finish the sentence.

"I swear, I won't," JJ promised.

* * *

"I love you," Emily whispered, her voice reverent as she watched the fire in JJ's eyes consume her, until it burnt itself out and all that was left were endless blue pools of JJ's love.

"I love you too," JJ panted, turning slightly and pulling Emily into a tight embrace. "God, that was incredible." She kissed Emily, their tongues tangling languidly as JJ caught her breath. "Emily," JJ whispered, looking Emily right in the eye so that her next words could sink in. "I still want you."

Emily broke down and sobbed in relief, burying her face in JJ's chest and holding on tightly. JJ, heart breaking for Emily's past hurts, stroked her back, kissing her hair and trying to comfort her with her presence. "I still want you," she whispered, over and over like a mantra, hoping that Emily understood her and believed her. "I'm always going to want you. I love you."


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

After Emily had cried herself out, JJ continued to stroke her hair and murmur to her, and she felt Emily fall asleep. She gently got out of the bed, used the bathroom and got back into bed, mindful of her promise to be there when Emily woke up.

She wasn't out long. In fact, all it took to wake her was a kiss. She was unable to resist gliding her hand up Emily's side and testing the weight of one full breast in her hand. "Hey," she said softly. "I'm still here, Emily." She kissed her again. "I kept my promise, see?"

Emily nodded, suddenly shy about her tears. But the hand on her breast was just distracting enough to turn her attention from her own trauma, to JJ's actions. "You stayed," she said, her voice just as quiet. "How… was I?"

"You were good," JJ said quickly. "You were… really good." She was being completely honest. She'd only been with men before, and it had never been this good. "I want to…"

What she wanted to do, she didn't get to say, because they could hear footsteps approaching the front door. Quickly they scrambled out of bed, shucking the last of their night clothing and pulling on jeans and shirts before the knock on the door sounded.

Emily opened the door and Harrison came running in, leaping into her arms. "Mommy, Mommy!" he yelped excitedly. "We went to the movies and we saw Kung-Fu Panda and then we went to McDonalds and I got a Happy Meal!" Emily's eyes met Hotch's, both of them silently acknowledging the fact that somehow, "Emmy" had turned into "Mommy". Neither mentioned it. Perhaps it had been a slip of his tongue?

Jack grinned up at JJ. She reached down, wondering if he'd let her pick him up and hug him, and to her surprise he came willingly. "And Daddy fell asleep in the movie so Uncle Derek filled his mouth up with popcorn," he said, bursting into giggles all over again as he remembered how Hotch had snorted and spluttered, waking up and smacking Morgan in the arm.

Taking Jack from JJ's arms, Hotch shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "I wasn't sleeping, I was just resting my eyes," he said gruffly.

"You say that every time you sleep in front of the TV," Jack informed him solemnly. "Emily, can Harrison sleep over at our house tonight?"

"N-not tonight," she said, still reeling from Harrison's unconscious greeting. JJ looked at her carefully. "You have preschool tomorrow, don't you? And we have things we have to do… how about next weekend?" At Hotch's shrug and nod, she continued. "Next weekend, Harrison can sleep over, okay?"

Jack nodded, and he, Hotch and Morgan left. Emily carried Harrison into the living room and sat down on the couch with him in her lap. She didn't know how to raise the subject of him calling her mommy, so she didn't, just sat there and listened to his excited chatter. She was happy that he'd had such a good afternoon, and that he'd spent time apart from her with no problems – it was a load off her mind to know that he COULD be left with someone else without a panic attack – but she didn't know how to deal with the idea that he thought of her as his mother and there was still a chance she might have to give him up.

"Mommy, what happened to your neck?" Harrison asked curiously, reaching for the purpling bruise. JJ started to giggle, and Harrison looked at her oddly. "It's not funny, Princess JJ! Mommy has an owie!"

"I'm fine," Emily said. "I just… bumped into something while you were out. Honey… you know that we're still looking for a mommy for you, right? It might… it might not be me."

Looking up at her, Harrison's bottom lip began to wobble. "But I want it to be you," he said stubbornly. "And if you kiss the princess, then she can be my mommy too, and I'll be just like Billy. And you said he was lucky because he has two people who love him."

It was a sobering little speech, and neither woman knew what to say. Finally, JJ plucked Harrison from Emily's lap and carried him into the kitchen, to give the older woman a moment to collect herself. "You know Emily loves you," she said carefully. "And I love you too, but we don't get to decide who will be your mommy." She set him on the counter and poured him a glass of milk, which he drank. As the excitement of the day caught up with him, he started to slump, so she picked him up again, cradling him against her chest as she brought him back to Emily who was still sitting motionless on the couch.

As soon as he was back in Emily's arms he fell asleep, curled into her tightly. "JJ… I just have to get custody of him. I have to. I can't let him go to anyone else. He belongs with us."

"I know," JJ said softly. "We'll do it. You've been through the training and you passed all of that with flying colors. The therapist has given glowing reports of how he's doing in your care. He's well fed, he's well clothed, he has his own room and he's making friends. You can do this, Emily."

It had been an emotional day, and Emily was just as drained as Harrison appeared to be. JJ helped her lay back on the couch, settling Harrison in her arms and covered the two of them with a blanket, before sitting on the floor and stroking Emily's hair. "It's going to be okay," she said quietly as Emily fell asleep. She just hoped, for all their sakes, that she was right.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

The next morning after JJ had kissed Emily and Harrison goodbye, Emily put on a movie for Harrison and called Garcia.

"I need your help," she said, uncomfortably. Quickly, shortly, she relayed a vague account of what had happened the night before – confining herself to the facts and not the details – and then sighed. "It was… gentle, and loving, and caring. It was slow and careful and cautious. It was beautiful… but it didn't come close to conveying the passion I feel for her," she said, glad that she was having this conversation over the phone and not face to face.

"So what do you need help with?" Garcia asked.

"Well… you're her best friend. I figured that over the years, you and she might have talked about… what she likes," Emily mumbled. "It's not something we've got around to discussing, and I kind of want to… surprise her."

Garcia had to think for a moment. As much as JJ was open about her feelings and emotions with Garcia, she could count the conversations they had had about sex on one hand. And most of what she had said, had been about men, and was therefore no use to Emily. Then she brightened. "She likes you in red," she said cheerfully.

"She likes me in red," Emily repeated, confused. "Well, that's good to know, but I don't see how that helps me."

"You should wear red lingerie for her!" Garcia said, losing patience with Emily's apparent mind block, and had to stifle the laughter that bubbled up when she heard Emily "get it".

"Oh!"

* * *

While Harrison was in therapy that morning, Emily paid a quick visit to a nearby store. She bit her lip as she debated whether or not to go through with the plan she had half constructed in her head, but in the end she slapped her credit card down before she could lose her nerve.

* * *

Later that night after Harrison was in bed, Emily put on a movie for her and JJ then excused herself and went to the bedroom to put on the things she'd bought for herself that morning. It had been a good decision, she could tell already. As easily as she could find flaws with her own body, she had to admit that the scarlet bra and panties she'd chosen were not only flattering… they were sexy. She put her jeans on again over the panties, and deliberately chose her red shirt for over the bra.

"Mmm, you look good," JJ said, licking her lips approvingly as she caught sight of what Emily was wearing. "I love that shirt on you. It's something about the color." She pulled Emily down onto the couch and kissed her firmly, dragging her tongue along Emily's bottom lip. "Hey… we're okay, aren't we? After yesterday, I mean. I feel like I was pushing, but it seemed like you were okay with it."

Emily nodded, then smirked. "I, um. I have a surprise for you," she said coyly, pushing the waistband of her jeans down just enough for JJ to see a flash of the red lingerie underneath. 

Interest immediately roused, JJ picked up the remote and turned off the TV. "Then maybe we should go upstairs so I can unwrap it," she murmured.

* * *

Boneless and satisfied, the two collapsed into each other's arms and spent a moment catching their breath. "We are really good at that," JJ said, catching Emily's giggles from earlier. "We could do that for America in the Olympics."

"Nah, I don't want to share you," Emily said, before her face turned serious. "You stayed," she said softly. "You stayed, and you still want me. You still WANT me." She kissed JJ tenderly, smiling with eyes bright with tears. "You're the first… the only person who has ever thought I was worth a second shot, who saw me as more than a one night stand. Do you have any idea… how incredible I feel right now?"

JJ cupped Emily's face and kissed back. "It probably feels just as good as I feel right now, knowing you trusted me with yourself."

For the first time in their relationship, there were no barriers separating skin from skin as the two fell asleep together. With no tank top or shirt to cling to, JJ's hand found Emily's, clasping it tightly. As Emily drifted into sleep, the smile never left her lips.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

"So do you want to hear the latest gossip?" JJ asked in the morning as she applied her makeup and Emily dried her hair for her.

"Shouldn't I be getting my gossip from Garcia, the gossip queen?" Emily asked, patting one last blond curl into place and pressing a kiss to JJ's shoulder. "There. You're beautiful."

Smiling, JJ turned in Emily's arms and kissed her gently. "No, because this gossip is about Garcia the gossip queen," she said with a grin. "According to a very reliable source – me – Penelope Garcia and Aaron Hotchner were spotted sharing coffee and laughing. And I'm not talking about bullpen coffee in the break room. I'm talking about coffee shop coffee, at a table, with eye contact."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "Garcia and Hotch had coffee together?"

"Complete with flirting and blushing," JJ confirmed.

Harrison barreled into the room at that moment, and getting him dressed gave Emily a chance to ponder this latest piece of information. She had found that Harrison seemed to gravitate towards the more Reid-like clothes in his closet, which were similar to the ones he had been found in, , despite the fact that he had a wide range of clothes – including Morgan and Hotch lookalike outfits. That morning for example he had picked out a pair of khaki shorts, a light blue long sleeved button down shirt, and a dark green sweater vest (which Emily had discreetly persuaded him to switch for a blue one). He wore little buckled sandals, and as Emily combed his hair, she was racking her brains to think of what he looked like, apart from Reid.

"You look like something out of Enid Blyton," she realized with a chuckle. "Who taught you to dress like this, baby?"

"My other mommy liked clothes like these," Harrison said vaguely. He stretched up on his tiptoes for his morning kiss and then zoomed into the kitchen where JJ was making breakfast, to get his kiss from her.

"Hey Em, I was thinking," JJ said as she poured Harrison's juice and kissed his nose. "How would you feel about me giving up my place?"

"Why would you do that?" Emily asked absently, tucking a paper towel in at Harrison's neck to avoid spills from his cereal.

JJ frowned. "How about, because I've spent every night with you since that very first massage, whether here or there, and since we got back from Tennessee I haven't been back there more than two or three times to pick up supplies? How about, because I love you and I want to be with you all the time and…" she glanced down at Harrison, who was watching them warily as JJ's voice rose. "And I want to help you with… that project you were thinking of taking on?" she said, knowing Emily would understand what she meant. "No, you're right Emily. Why on earth would I want to give up paying rent on a place I'm not even using just to move in with people I love?" She bent down, kissed Harrison goodbye, grabbed her bag and her gun and strode out the door, shutting it firmly behind her.

"Uh oh, I think I messed up," Emily said to Harrison in a guilty voice.

"You made Mama mad," Harrison said matter-of-factly. Emily started, not just at the boy's accurate assessment of the situation, but at his spontaneous renaming of JJ.

"Yeah, buddy. I made Mama mad," she repeated, testing the way it felt in her mouth. "But you and I are going to make her happy again. Are you in?"

Harrison nodded, and Emily scooped him up, grabbing her keys and wallet on the way out the door.

* * *

It took JJ half of the drive to work to decide whether she was upset enough to cry, or mad enough to curse. Eventually she decided that crying would just ruin her makeup and give her profiler coworkers something to talk about, so she spent a glorious five minutes reciting every bad word she'd ever head, including a couple of Italian ones she'd picked up from Emily. She hated that she was so upset. She knew she'd sprung the whole "moving in" discussion on the older woman with very little warning, and she knew that Emily had only just worked through one rather large issue with trust – but she couldn't help it. Emily's dismissive comment at the idea of JJ giving up her place had hurt her.

She stormed into the BAU, nodding tersely at those who greeted her, and settled in her office, having no intention of coming out unless she had to. There was plenty of paperwork to get through, and perhaps by the time she was done with it, she might have calmed down enough to be more rational about things.

* * *

Hallmark didn't make a card that said "Sorry I put my foot in my mouth when you suggested that we move in together", so Emily bought a blank one and a package of crayons, found them a seat in the food court and let Harrison draw JJ a picture on the front. Predictably, the picture was of himself, Emily and JJ, the latter identifiable by her bright yellow hair and blue eyes. Using a piece of scrap paper, Emily showed him how to draw hearts, and Harrison spent a few minutes drawing them on every free inch of the front of the card.

"Is it pretty?" he asked when he was done. "Do you think it will make her smile again?"

"It's very pretty," Emily praised him. "But we have to write inside it, too. I have to tell her that I'm sorry, and why I'm sorry."

Quickly she printed inside the card. "JJ – I wasn't thinking this morning, but I've been thinking ever since. It's a wonderful idea, and I'm sorry if I implied otherwise – Emily."

She let Harrison write too, but all he managed was a capital J and his name. It was still pretty impressive for a four year old, so Emily praised him again and they were off to their next stop on their quest to make JJ smile. There was a small bakery not far from the BAU that made the best red velvet cupcakes Emily had ever tasted, so she bought one of those and together, she and Harrison made their way to the BAU.

* * *

After about an hour JJ was still cranky and hurt but now she was hungry on top of it. She checked to see if the coast was clear of profilers before venturing out of her office, but she failed to spot Garcia coming back from a coffee run and almost collided with the bubbly blond.

"All right, buttercup, tell Garcia what's got you looking like a hundred days of rain," she said solemnly. JJ sighed.

"I… made a suggestion this morning. It wasn't taken the way I had hoped, and I got upset with Emily and stormed out," she said vaguely.

Garcia opened her mouth to respond, but stopped, looking at something over JJ's shoulder. When JJ turned to see what had caught her friend's eye, she saw Emily with Harrison on her hip, struggling through the security doors with a paper bag in her free hand, and she couldn't help the fond smile. Emily looked like such a… mom.

"I think that whatever she said that upset you, she's not upset that you're upset. She's upset that she upset you," Garcia said, then laughed at her own convoluted description of the scene. "Go get her."

Emily hung back, setting Harrison down. He scampered over to JJ and held up the bag. The other members of the team subtly assembled to watch the events unfold. "Mommy's sorry," Harrison announced, stretching his arms up for JJ to pick him up. "She knows she made you mad. But we made you a card, and we bought you a cake. So will you please be happy again?"

JJ gave a small smile as she cradled the little boy on her hip, and looked at the card. "Did Emily draw this picture?" she asked, careful to use Emily's name to reinforce that she wasn't mommy – not yet.

"No, I did!" Harrison chirped. "See, there's me, and there's mommy, and there's you! And those are the hearts because mommy loves you, and so do I." JJ's smile grew much, much wider and she choked back a little sob, hugging Harrison tighter. She caught Emily's eye over his shoulder and nodded, letting her know without words that she was forgiven.

With quick strides Emily closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around JJ and effectively sandwiching Harrison between them. "I'm so stupid," she said softly, becoming uncomfortably aware that people could see them and were probably definitely watching. "Just… read the card and we'll talk when you get home, okay?" She put a little extra emphasis on the word home.

She took Harrison from JJ and left her with the cupcake, kissing her lightly before leaving. She saw Hotch smiling as she walked out, and knew she'd done the right thing.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

Of course, talking about moving in together and actually moving in together were two different things. Although JJ and Emily had a long and frank discussion that night about logistics and utility bills and everything else, there were other things that had to take precedence.

First and foremost, the dreaded home visit that went along with trying to get a license to foster Harrison. Emily had decided that to paint herself and her life in the most flattering light, it made sense to invite the social worker to one of their Saturday picnics. There, she would be able to best show the family she had built for Harrison, complete with uncles and a "brother" in Jack.

There was something else that had been bothering her, too. Since her phone call to her mother to get her blessing about Harrison, she hadn't had a chance to speak to her, let alone invite her to meet Harrison. Mentally, it was on her list of things to do – but she had reckoned without JJ.

JJ, meaning well, had invited Ambassador Prentiss to come to one of their Saturday picnics. They'd talked about ways to introduce the little boy to the ambassador. It was, she thought, the most casual and warm and inviting way to bring Emily's mother into the fold. She hadn't discussed it with Emily, hoping to surprise her.

"Hey so this Saturday," Emily said that Wednesday as they got ready for bed, "I invited the social worker to come to the picnic. I think it'll be good for her to see him like that, you know? He's so playful, and he definitely looks loved and comfortable."

JJ went pale. "You invited her for this Saturday?" she asked in a small voice.

"Is there something wrong with that? Oh no, did we catch a case?"

"No, it's just…" JJ closed her eyes against the anticipated reaction and bit her lip. "I sort of invited your mother for this Saturday."

"You did what?" Emily exclaimed. "Why didn't you ask me first? Now I have to deal with two incredibly stressful things on one day – I was already on edge, thinking of how I'm going to present myself in front of this woman who could potentially sign off on Harrison becoming my own little boy, or be the person who makes me have to give him up. Now I have to add my mother to the mix." She sank down onto the bed, burying her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry!" JJ said desperately. "I just thought… if you didn't know she was coming, you wouldn't have time to stress yourself out over her being there. I thought it would be a nice surprise."

When Emily looked up, she could see the genuine remorse in JJ's expression and didn't have the heart to be angry with her. She pulled the younger woman into a warm embrace, taking comfort in her closeness. "You got it wrong," she said gently. "When it comes to my mother, forewarned is forearmed. Of course…" she laughed wryly. "There's another way to look at it. Only one of our picnics is going to be ruined by stress and obligation. We're getting two things out of the way at once."

"So you're not mad at me?" JJ asked in a small, sad voice. Emily smiled, cupping her face in both hands and bringing her close for a lingering, tender kiss.

"No, I'm not mad at you," she murmured as they parted. "I love you too much. Now kiss me, to prove that you didn't really mean to hurt me by inviting my mother, ugh."

* * *

The day of the picnic was bright and sunny – sunny enough that Emily conscientiously slathered two initially reluctant little boys in sunscreen lotion before turning them loose to play in the backyard. After Jack asserted that he "didn't want any of that on him, and Emily couldn't make him", Harrison had rebelled too. Then Emily had had a brainwave. She stuck her finger in the lotion and carefully drew two thick stripes with it on each of her cheeks. "Oh wow! Harry, it's like war paint!" Jack had yelled, and that had done the trick.

Of course, Hotch, Morgan and Reid had to have sunscreen lotion war paint too, and soon there was a fierce game of Cowboys and Indians going on. Emily looked around, smiling at Garcia relaxing in a deck chair and JJ beside her, sitting on one side of the porch swing that Emily had set up a few weeks previously. She went and plopped down next to her girlfriend, snuggling into her and nuzzling her neck playfully.

"Garcia, give me a heads up when the social worker gets here," she called out, not lifting her face from where she was pressing kisses to JJ's sweet skin. "I'm gonna get busy ravishing my woman here."

"No joy, sweet thing. She's pulling into the drive now," Garcia announced, looking down at her laptop screen where she'd quickly pulled up a satellite view of Emily's property.

Quickly, Emily sat upright, swatting JJ's arm as the younger woman cracked up laughing.

* * *

Really, Emily thought a little later, the visit had gone very well. Harrison had reacted predictably badly to having a stranger close to him, but Emily had prepared the woman – Hannah – for this, and she didn't think it would be counted against her. What she hadn't counted on was the fact that Reid had taken one look at Hannah and promptly tripped over his own feet. He had barely taken his eyes off her since. Emily supposed she was pretty, with her brown hair and big green eyes, but privately thought that she wasn't a patch on JJ.

The little boys were still running around merrily, although Hotch and Morgan had come in for some rest and relaxation. JJ nudged Emily as Hotch chose a spot that was suspiciously close to Garcia, and both of them watched as Garcia's fingers found their way into the hair at the nape of his neck, massaging his scalp gently.

* * *

Elizabeth Prentiss hadn't been at all sure that this would be a good idea, but Emily's friend Agent Jareau had been very persuasive. And it would be nice, she supposed, to see her daughter in a more natural setting than their usual high teas, or formal events. She had even made an effort to dress casually as requested, though for Elizabeth that meant a nice pair of slacks and a button down shirt.

Her driver pulled into Emily's driveway and she exited the car. "You can leave," she told him awkwardly. "I'll… call, if I need you to come and retrieve me." She watched as the car drove off, and then quietly walked through to the backyard as she had been instructed.

Agent Jareau had in no way prepared her for the sight she saw. Emily's coworkers were all present. The computer girl was stroking the serious boss man's hair. The dark skinned man was chasing two little boys around. Emily was holding hands with Agent Jareau and looking… content, as she talked earnestly with a brunette that Elizabeth didn't recognize. And was that… sunscreen lotion worn as war paint that she saw on the men's faces? She hid a smile.

And even as she watched, she saw the smaller of the two little boys stumble and fall hard, and she saw Emily cut herself off in mid-sentence and let go of Agent Jareau's hand. She jogged over to the little boy and scooped him up, holding him close as he cried and clung to her. In moments, his tears were over, and Emily was cleaning the little grazed knee, applying a Band-Aid, and administering a kiss, and then swatting his little behind fondly as she sent him back to play.

"Hello, Mother," Emily said as she caught sight of Elizabeth lurking at the side of the house and walked over. "How long have you been standing there?"

Elizabeth didn't blush, because she had had far too much practice stifling her responses. "I've been here a few minutes," she said carefully. "Emily… when did you become such a… mother?"

"I'm not a mother yet," Emily said shortly. "That sort of depends on today and the report the social worker writes about me."

"But you should have seen yourself," Elizabeth exclaimed. "That little boy fell and it was seconds at most before you were up and at his side! And you looked so… right, with him in your arms. I can see that you're a natural at this, and… that he loves you very much."

Emily looked stunned, and Elizabeth's heart ached a little. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life," she continued. "I know that. I think we both know that I wasn't ever the kind of mother that I should have been – the kind of mother that you, clearly, are."

To her credit, Emily said nothing, though her eyes spoke volumes of hurt and neglect.

"I was a mother, but Emily… you're a 'mommy'. There's no possible way the social worker is going to think any differently."

"Thank you," Emily said quietly, completely floored. "Would you like to join us for lunch?"

* * *

Lunch was a simple affair of fresh baked loaves of bread, sliced thick and spread with butter and topped with whatever people wanted. There were six or seven toppings set on plates dotted around the blankets that made up the makeshift dining area, and everyone was just helping themselves.

Emily was having a little trouble believing what she was seeing. Her mother, her serious, prim and proper mother, was sitting on a blanket in the back yard munching on a slice of bread and butter topped with ham, tomato and chives, and chatting quite cheerfully with Morgan about the front page of the day's newspaper. She leaned into JJ and sighed happily, stealing a kiss while the blond was between bites of her own lunch.

Garcia, more naturally demonstrative than Hotch, had succumbed to the temptation to hold his hand, but the surprising thing was that he was allowing it. Emily hadn't really been able to picture the two of them together, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Garcia's bubbly, friendly, upbeat nature was the perfect counterpoint to Hotch, who had a more serious and traditional outlook on life. He was a calming influence on her, and she was a breath of fresh air and a ray of sunshine in his. They looked happy together, which was the most important thing.

And Reid was sitting next to Hannah, conducting a friendly, if shy, conversation about her job and all it entailed. To his credit he was managing to resist the usual urge to inject statistics into every sentence, and when Hannah let out a giggle at something Reid said, Emily grinned and nudged JJ. It was plain to see that the young doctor was infatuated with the social worker, and it looked like she just might be interested in him.

Perhaps the best thing about that day was how natural it all seemed. It was simple, honest and genuine. It was real, and when Hannah finished her report and sent Emily a copy to review, it was less a report and more three pages of glowing praise for Emily and her suitability to care for Harrison.

Hannah slipped Reid her number as she left shortly after lunch.

Elizabeth stayed for a couple of hours before bowing out gracefully. Emily walked her to the door and stood awkwardly as they waited for Elizabeth's car.

"Thank you for coming, Mother," she said politely. After deliberating a moment, she stepped forward and hugged the older woman. "It meant a lot that you could make the effort. And… the things you said…" She trailed off. "Perhaps we can do this again sometime."

"That little boy is going to be my grandson. I know it will take time, but after seeing the two of you together, I don't only accept it as inevitable – I embrace it. He's beautiful, and he belongs with you," Elizabeth said tentatively. "I'd… like to be a part of his life and yours, if you and he will have me."

"That might be nice," Emily said as the car pulled up and Elizabeth got inside. She stood watching as the car drove away, thinking about what had just transpired. It was a lot to consider.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

The big move came and went. It was interesting to Emily that once the furniture was taken care of, and the boxes were unpacked, nothing changed at all. She realized with a soft smile that JJ had essentially already moved in, and this "big move" was more a formality.

The three of them fell into a routine. Emily was still conscious that her social worker team was keeping a careful eye on her parenting and so she was introducing a number of different things to Harrison's life. She was speaking French to him for a start. Initially he had giggled and told her to stop talking gibberish, but after a couple of weeks he was picking it up faster than she had thought – and so was JJ. She made a mental note to start slipping some Spanish in there in the coming weeks.

Reading was another of Emily's bright ideas. Once the thought had struck her that Harrison liked to dress like something out of an Enid Blyton book, she'd picked up a few of them, and she and JJ had started reading to him, together, every night before bed. Harrison absolutely basked in the attention, in the voices that JJ and Emily did for each of the characters, and in the warmth of the three of them snuggled together in his bed each night.

Hannah hadn't been back, at least not in her capacity as social worker. Emily and JJ had laughed when she'd told them she'd voluntarily had herself removed from the case in favor of dating Reid without there being a conflict of interest, but the man who had taken Hannah's place was just as nice as Hannah had been. Hannah had become a regular fixture at the Saturday picnics, though, giggling with Reid and generally being sweet together.

Emily hadn't had a lot of a chance to think about what her mother had said to her, so it was a shock when she showed up at the door bearing a gift for Harrison. "Hello Emily, may I come in?"

"What are you doing here, Mother?" Emily asked, her surprise overcoming her manners for a moment.

"I thought I'd stop by and bring something for little Harrison," Elizabeth said awkwardly. "It's… uh, a bicycle. It has training wheels… I hope I didn't overstep."

Emily's jaw dropped further, though she managed to recover quickly. "What is it that you think is going to happen here?" she asked quietly. "Mother… Harrison has been through enough. If you want to be a part of Harrison's life, you have to BE a part of his life, and not in the same way you were a part of mine. Either be here for him properly, or don't get our hopes up at all."

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she drew a pained breath. "You're right," she said quietly. "Emily… I think you should know that I am so proud of you and of the woman you have become. I'd like to take credit for you, but I know I can't. I don't deserve it. Who you are, that's all you, and you're amazing. But I want to be better. I've seen the way you are with him. It… it has been weighing on me, that I wasn't that for you. I'd like to change. I'd like to start again with you… and be a real grandmother to Harrison, if you'll let me."

Studying her mother's face for a long moment, Emily saw nothing but sincerity and honesty. She sucked in a breath. "Is that what you want to be? You want to be a grandmother?"

"And I want to be a real mother."

"Would you rather be Grandma or Granny?" Emily asked quietly, but she smiled at her mother, saying without words that she was willing to give this a try. Elizabeth stepped forward and the two embraced.

* * *

JJ was deep in paperwork when Garcia came crashing into her office and it took her a moment to recover from her fright. "Are you okay?" she asked, seeing the tell-tale signs of tears on Garcia's face.

"I think I'm pregnant."

* * *

Introducing Harrison to Elizabeth had been an interesting process. Though he remembered her from the picnic a couple of weeks prior, he hadn't actually interacted with her directly. First, Emily sat him in her lap and stroked his back as she explained that Elizabeth "was her mommy". Harrison's quick little mind turned over this new information.

"She's your mommy?" he repeated. "Is she a nice mommy?"

"She's a very nice mommy. In fact, she brought a present for you." Emily lifted him out of her lap and gently encouraged him to approach Elizabeth. He was getting ever so slightly better at being around people outside their immediate circle, but he still needed Emily close if panic attacks were to be avoided.

Elizabeth crouched down in front of him and smiled warmly. "Hello, Harrison. Would you like to see what I brought you?" She held out her hand and waited for him to take it, which he did after looking anxiously up at Emily to see if it was a good idea. At her nod, he let himself be led to the front entrance, where the bicycle stood.

His excitement was too much for his anxiety to keep in check. "You brought me a bike?" he squealed, and in spite of himself he threw his arms around Elizabeth's leg and squeezed tightly. "Oh, Mommy can we go riding please?"

"What do you say?" Emily asked, slightly choked up.

"Thank you, nice lady," Harrison said, his eyes still drinking in the bright red bicycle.

They had agreed not to introduce her as his grandmother until after the paperwork was finalized, for the same reason Emily kept correcting him every time he called her Mommy. The problem was that as well as things were going, there was still a chance that Emily might not be granted a license, or custody. When Ambassador Prentiss left that afternoon, Harrison knew her as "Elizabeth", and that was a good enough start for her.

* * *

"What do you mean, pregnant?" JJ asked.

"I mean, Hotch and I have been… seeing each other… and we took the plunge for the first time about a month ago, and it was wild. And now I'm late."

"Wow… and Emily and I had only just figured out you two were dating," JJ mused. "And you're sleeping together? How did that even happen?"

"I don't know," Garcia said. "How does anything happen? How did you fall in love with Emily? I was just… working a case a while back, and he called me and asked me to do my computer thing, and I did my usual irreverent phone thing, and he laughed. He laughed! And he has such a sexy laugh. And then when you guys got back, he stopped by the lair to thank me and we joked again, and he was smiling, and I was smiling, and he asked me for coffee."

"I saw that!" JJ exclaimed. "You two looked really cozy!"

"Well… the outing didn't end there," Garcia admitted quietly. "After we couldn't drink any more coffee, I suggested we get dinner, and we ended up at my place, and… things happened."

"You mean sex happened," JJ grinned.

"Yeah, sex happened."

"But you were careful," JJ said meaningfully, and then sighed as Garcia shook her head sheepishly.

"There wasn't time… it was like, I looked into his eyes, and the world was ending and I had to have him, right then and there. And the way he was looking at me, he was feeling it too. It was fast and furious and desperate and incredible and perfect and when it was over, he just… looked at me, and then we did it again… twice."

JJ snickered, but asked the obvious question. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know…"

"Does Hotch know?"

* * *

"My mother wants to be involved in our lives," Emily said as soon as JJ got home. "She bought Harrison a bike."

"Garcia's pregnant." JJ countered, shucking her shirt, slumping face first onto the couch and gesturing that Emily should rub her back. "She hasn't told Hotch, but she's almost seventy five percent sure she's going to keep it."

"She said she's going to start coming to the Saturday picnics whenever she has the chance," Emily went on, digging her thumbs into the familiar knots at JJ's neck and working them out firmly to the tune of JJ's moans.

"I just took her to the doctor, and she had the blood test and confirmed everything. She's about a month along, and wouldn't have even known if she wasn't usually so freakishly regular."

"I… got a letter from Child Services today," Emily said, dropping her biggest bomb as if their conversation up until this point had been a competition to see who could shock the other more. "It's a done deal. I've been granted guardianship. We got him."


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of making love to you," Emily said when she had caught her breath, then blushed. Her greatest fear was that JJ would be the one to tire of what they had, and Emily didn't like to bring it up.

But after all this time, JJ knew exactly what she was thinking. "Hey. I'm in this," she said softly, bringing Emily's eyes up to meet her own with a finger underneath her chin. "I'm happy. I've never been this happy, and the sex?" She smiled wickedly. "Sex has definitely never been this good."

"Even though I don't have a…" Emily asked tentatively.

"Pfft, who needs them?" JJ scoffed, rolling on top of Emily and kissing her soundly. "You, my dear, are all I need."

* * *

For the last week or so, Emily had been searching for preschools in the area. Ideally, she would have liked Harrison to attend the same preschool as Jack Hotchner, because the two boys were such firm friends. There were no spots open when she initially applied though, so she had to settle for putting Harrison's name on a waiting list.

Tonight, she and JJ had decided it was time to tell Harrison that things had been settled. As safe and secure as he clearly felt with Emily, it was plain to see that he was wondering about where he would end up, and who would be his mommy.

"Guess what we found out?" Emily asked him softly.

Harrison shrugged. "Jack's coming over?" he guessed. Emily smiled.

"No, we found out who your new mommy is going to be," JJ said.

Harrison's eyes went wide with fear. "Who will it be? Where will I go?" he asked in a small voice, holding onto Emily tightly.

"It's me," Emily sniffled, turning him to face her. "I'm going to be your mommy, sweet baby, and you get to stay with me forever."

He let out a cheer that almost startled Emily and she seized him around the waist, tossing him in the air then dumping him on the couch and tickling him just for the sheer delight of hearing him giggle. As he struggled out of her grip, squealing for JJ to "save him", Emily cast her eyes heavenward and sent up a silent prayer of thanks, that she got to be this beautiful little boy's mother.

To put it mildly, Emily's life was idyllic. She had a partner she couldn't get enough of. She had an estranged mother who was making every possible effort to repair their relationship – and it was working. She had a son – a son! She got to be someone's Mommy. She had a family who gathered every possible Saturday like something out of a cheesy sitcom and love that flowed freely, saturating every facet of her existence.

"Mommy, you have to kiss the princess!" Harrison's shout startled her out of her thoughts and back into reality. She caught JJ's eyes and winked.

"Ew, do I have to?" she whined playfully, pretending that kissing the blond was an arduous, terrible task.

"Yes!" Harrison yelped, so she leaned closer, over his head, and pressed her lips gently to JJ's, savoring the sweet sensation of kissing the woman she loved.

"Are you happy now?" she asked the little boy with a cheeky smirk.

"Yes." He got to his feet and cupped JJ's face, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Will you be my Mama now?" he asked her in a small, pleading voice. "I want to be like Billy with his two mommies, because you said he was lucky. I want to be lucky, and anyway, I love you."

JJ, choked up and barely able to speak, embraced the little boy. "Yeah, I'll be your Mama," she said, soft and sincere. "We'll be a family, the three of us, sweet baby."

* * *

Garcia had decided that the best way to break the news to Hotch about the baby was to get a couple of drinks in him and then drop the bomb. It wasn't her most inspired of plans, but she was afraid. She was afraid that he would fire her, or transfer her, because whatever they had going on, this was never supposed to happen. Perhaps the fact that they were "together" at all had never been meant to happen, but Garcia couldn't help the way she felt about him.

He was in her living room now, working on his third bourbon and cola, unaware that her drink was purely cola. "So," she began, "I have some… news." She wasn't willing to categorize it as good news or bad news until she had had a chance to gauge his reaction.

"What kind of news?" he asked, reaching for the pizza that sat on the coffee table in front of them.

"It turns out that I'm pregnant," she said nervously, bracing herself.

He choked. He sucked in a breath and literally choked on his mouthful of pizza, forcing her to leap from her seat and smack him on the back to clear his airway. Once he could breathe again, he looked at her wide eyed. "You're pregnant?" he repeated.

"Yes. And… it's yours," she said, wincing. He didn't seem to be taking it well. "I hadn't been with anyone for at least six months before you, and certainly no one else since…" She sighed. "Look, it's not too late…"

"No," he said abruptly. "No, I don't want you to… take care of it. When Hayley told me she was pregnant with Jack, she offered the same thing. I didn't want that then, and I don't want that now." He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. Garcia watched him nervously, but he wasn't done talking.

"When you applied for this job, you handed me a resume printed on homemade pink stationary," he said with a gentle smile. "I knew then that you were going to be… interesting. And you never disappointed me. Hayley… never understood why I do what we do. That's why it didn't work with her. We fought all the time because she insisted that I put her first, instead of recognizing that sometimes, I just have to catch bad guys and save people." He looked her in the eye. "But you're different, Pen. You don't just understand that I have to catch criminals. You help me do it. And you make me smile while we're doing it."

Garcia was beginning to smile, though her eyes were bright with happy tears. "So you're not angry?"

"No, I'm not angry," he said. "Maybe there's never a perfect time to make a baby, but maybe… I found the perfect woman to make one with?" He laughed at his own alcohol induced corniness, then leaned in and hugged her. "I'd like to do this, if you're willing. I'd like to have this baby with you."

* * *

Sleepily, JJ reached for her phone as it buzzed on the bedside table. Emily murmured in protest as the younger woman shifted in her arms, but didn't open her eyes, burying her face in JJ's hair.

"Garcia told Hotch about the baby," JJ said after reading the text. "They're keeping it. Apparently he called her the perfect woman."

"Well that was nice of him," Emily mumbled. "But doesn't he know that you're the perfect woman? That seems like something he ought to know." She was happy for Garcia, but already more than half asleep.

JJ laughed, snuggling back into Emily's embrace. "You're a goofball."


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

All things must come to an end. Emily's leave of absence was over, and she was ready to get back to work. She still had maternity leave that she could use at her discretion, but she and JJ had decided that JJ would take hers first, for two reasons. Firstly, Emily had already been out of the field for weeks, and she was afraid she might have lost her edge. Secondly, Harrison was very attached to her, and she needed to know that he could function without her, while she still had the resources to leave work if she had to.

So today, their routine changed in just one very significant way. It was Emily, up and in the shower, while JJ snuggled in the big bed with Harrison until she left.

JJ hadn't expected the day to go well. As much as Harrison clearly loved her and felt safe with her, it was Emily he was the most attached to. She correctly predicted his tears at her departure, but was able to distract him by putting on some music and dancing with him for a bit, hamming it up until he was giggling at her.

For the rest of the day, for the sake of keeping Harrison as calm as possible on his first day without Emily, they stuck to the most normal and mundane things JJ could think of. They went grocery shopping, and then to the library to get books for Harrison, and to Harrison's therapy session – he was down to twice a week now.

* * *

Emily had sort of envisioned herself fitting right back in to the work. But between Morgan insisting on calling her "Mommy" and Reid pontificating on the numerous child psychology texts he'd read recently out of personal interest and Emily's situation, Emily felt off balance and frankly homesick.

Luckily, or unluckily, they caught a case in the early afternoon that she hoped would take her mind off how much she missed her little boy. Was this how Hotch felt every day, missing Jack? Instead she focused on the case file. It was local, which she thanked God for because she didn't think traveling would be a good idea right now.

"Women are turning up dead," Hotch announced without preamble. "There's no apparent connection, but local law enforcement hasn't been able to delve as deeply into their lives as we can. This is Amelia Roberts." A woman's picture flashed up on the screen. Photos of Carly Spalding and Amanda Frampton followed. Each of the women was in her mid-thirties and, to put it bluntly, beautiful.

"Cause of death is repeated blunt force trauma to the back of the head," Hotch said solemnly. "We'll be working out of the precinct closest to the killings. It's about a half mile from here."

The team packed up and rolled out, entering the mid-sized precinct and asking for the detective in charge. The receptionist was friendly enough, though she gave Emily a strange look as she walked past. She seemed to naturally gravitate toward Reid, which made him blush and stand just a fraction closer to Morgan.

"I think that receptionist is sweet on you, Kid," Morgan teased as they began setting their things up on the desks and boards provided, safely out of earshot of the woman.

"And I don't think she likes me very much, which is weird," Emily commented. "I've never met her before, so I don't think she has a reason to dislike me. I'm not that unlikeable am I?" This last was a joke, and while Morgan laughed at her, Reid surprised her by hugging her, albeit awkwardly.

"I think you're very likeable," he said, having missed the fact that she was joking, "and I think JJ likes you a lot too, so I wouldn't worry about some complete stranger."

Emily laughed and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Reid. You always know just what to say to cheer me up. Here I was, just about to cry my eyes out because she doesn't like me, and you've made everything sunshine and roses again with just your beautiful words."

Bethany, the receptionist, watched the team's banter through the glass walls of the office they had been given. Her eyes narrowed.

* * *

Garcia had been hard at work, her fingers flying over the keyboards. "Sir, I believe I've found a connection, but it's not much of one," she said as Hotch picked up the phone.

"We'll take it, whatever it is," he said.

"The first victim, Amelia, filed a missing person report around two weeks ago. Carly Spalding's elderly mother's house was burgled ten days ago. Amanda Frampton recently got a job working as a delivery driver for a local deli."

"I don't understand how this is a connection."

"Each of these women has been in the same precinct that you're standing in, in the last two weeks. In each case, their visit to the precinct was less than a day before they were last seen."

Hotch frowned. If the precinct was the connection, then the Unsub was likely someone who was also connected to the police, or even a civilian working at the precinct.

"Garcia, run background checks on all of the employees of this precinct," he muttered into the phone. "Look for someone who might have a reason to hurt women, prior charges, you know the drill."

"I can and will, my liege," Garcia said cheerfully.

"And… let's have dinner tonight," he said awkwardly. "It might be late, but I'm sure I can get back at least in time for a late meal."

"It's a date," Garcia said softly, surprised but happy. "I'll see you tonight."

* * *

The tall, thin man with the floppy hair was definitely fond of his coffee. Bethany watched him the first couple of times, smiling at him and receiving smiles in return. He was clearly a sweet guy. She saw him drain the last of his second cup, and had seen him add milk and four sugars, so she beat him to the punch and was knocking at the door with a steaming mug in her hand.

"I thought you could use some coffee," she said nervously. "It, uh, has milk and four sugars… that's how you take it, correct?"

Reid looked at her, flushing slightly, completely baffled. "Yes, as a matter of fact it is. That's very thoughtful of you, thank you."

But then that skinny bitch had to ruin everything. Bethany had been prepared to grit her teeth and ignore the woman sitting bent over her files, but then she just had to sit up, flicking her hair out of her eyes like something out of a goddamn shampoo commercial and winking at Bethany's new man.

Why was it that the beautiful girls always had to take everything, and leave nothing for the regular girls like Bethany? Bethany was nice. And if she could just drop those last fifty pounds, and maybe did something with her hair, and got around to getting contact lenses to replace her glasses, then Bethany could be just as pretty, if not prettier than this bitch. She'd certainly be less bony. But this woman, this "Emily", she'd always come out on top and the nice Dr. Reid would continue to ignore Bethany as long as she was around.

With a smile at Reid, and a scowl at Emily, Bethany left the little room.

* * *

"I swear, she hates me," Emily laughed down the phone to JJ twenty minutes later. "Seriously, I don't know what I did, but I took two steps into this building and she started giving me the most evil glares I have seen since I was in Italy. Whatever, right? We'll just solve this case and we'll get out of here, and she'll never have to offend her eyes by looking at me ever again."

"Hmm, well, when you get home, do you think I could maybe 'offend my eyes' by looking at you?" JJ suggested playfully.

"That sounds like a plan," Emily purred. "But you have to let me return the favor."

"Is that Mommy?" Harrison's voice came from JJ's lap, from the sound of things. "I want to talk to Mommy! Let me talk to Mommy!"

"What do you say?" JJ asked automatically, not wanting to give in to a demand unless it was a polite demand. In response, Harrison burst into loud, hysterical tears, clearly having trouble with the fact that the phone wasn't handed to him straight away.

"I want Mommy!" he shrieked.

"Hey, it's okay. Here she is," JJ said quickly, giving him the phone once she realized just how upset he was.

"What's all that noise, Harry?" Emily asked, making her voice as soothing as possible. "You know you're fine. You're safe at home with Mama, and I'm at work. I'll be home later on tonight. We talked about this."

"I wanna come and see you," he wept. "I don't like it here without you."

Firmly but gently, Emily reprimanded him. "Do you know that you're making Mama have a sad face right now? She loves you, and she took time off work just to be with you. When you cry and you make a big fuss because you want me to come home, you make her feel like you don't love her."

"I'm sorry," he said. By the tone of his voice, he clearly hadn't thought of it that way, but Emily took pity on him. It was his first day without her, and he was bound to be unsettled. She knew he hadn't intentionally set out to hurt JJ, and she was proud of the way that he had reacted once he had been reminded that he wasn't the only one whose feelings mattered.

When JJ took the phone back, Emily sighed. "It looks like I'm going to be here late. We finally found the connection between the victims, and we've got a bunch of background checks to go through. Why don't you both come and have dinner here with us? He gets to see me and know that I haven't abandoned him, and I get to see you… because I miss your kisses."

JJ smiled. "We'll be there in an hour."


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer. 
> 
> I'd like to point out that I know Bethany has a somewhat skewed vision of herself, and the reasons why will hopefully become clear in a couple of chapters. I just wanted my readers to know that the things she listed about herself, the things that she thought needed to be improved upon - that's all her, not me. I don't want anyone to think that I hold those sorts of prejudices.

Most everyone had cleared out of the office, glad to have a job that only kept them around from nine to five. Just when she'd got used to the dark haired bitch sitting in the back office taking up everyone's time, of course they had to bring in another one. This one was blond. It figured. And this skinny blond bitch was toting an adorable little boy in her arms. As soon as she put him down, he went running to the dark haired bitch with a cry of "Mommy, Mommy!"

Bethany grimaced. She loved kids, but she'd never had any of her own. Mostly because the men she was attracted to were forever being led astray by skinny, beautiful bitches who had no idea how good they had it. All her life, she'd had to deal with them. They thought they were so much better than she was because they wore size zero pants and their hair shone and men paid them attention.

Well, not her man.

Not today.

* * *

Emily and Reid weren't really doing much when JJ arrived, just tidying up and sorting the background checks that Garcia had completed. There were still a few to come, but they had mutually decided it was time for a break when they heard Harrison coming.

JJ opened the door and Harrison hurtled into Emily's arms, clinging to her tightly. "Mommy," he cried. "Why'd you stay away so long?"

The last thing Emily wanted to do was pander to this neediness. Yes, he'd been through a lot, but for the last couple of months he'd had a completely stable, loving environment and eventually he was going to need to get back to something approaching normalcy. She held him close, but refused to give in and validate his apparent need for her to be around him all the time.

Instead, she talked to him, showing him what she had been doing and explaining why she had been away so long – and why she would need to do this every day from now on. "Do you see all the papers?" she asked him. "Uncle Reid and I have to sit here and read all these papers, and try to catch bad guys. Do you remember how I told you, that Mommy and Mama go to work and catch bad guys? That's what I'm doing today."

"Bad men like the one who hurt my other mommy?" he asked, and Emily winced. She hadn't realized how attached she had become to having Harrison think of HER as his mommy. She nodded, and he climbed down out of her lap. "I have to go to the bathroom," he announced, but when Emily held out her hand to take him, he shook his head. "I want Uncle Reid to take me."

Reid had been hanging back next to JJ while Emily calmed Harrison down. JJ had always been the team member he was the closest to, and it was natural for her to lean into him as they watched the little boy in Emily's arms. "He really loves her," he commented softly, and JJ nodded, snuggling into him.

"I've missed this," she said playfully. "We used to do this so much more often, this hugging. On Saturday, you and I are taking the patio swing, and Hannah can just take her chances on the blankets with everyone else. I'm claiming you."

He blushed, laughed and kissed the top of her head. "JJ, you're my best friend," he said seriously. "You know we can do this whenever you want, as long as your girlfriend doesn't get jealous and shoot me. She carries a gun, you know."

Emily and JJ both laughed at him, JJ swatting his arm playfully as he left the room with Harrison in his arms.

* * *

Oh, this was just… it wasn't enough that the dark haired bitch had been flirting with her man, but now the blond was all over him! Why did they ALWAYS do this? She'd seen him first! She glowered at them through the glass.

* * *

"Pick up, pick up," Garcia urged, calling Hotch's phone. It rang for a record four times before he answered.

"Where are you?" she asked with no preamble.

"I'm in the field," he replied, confused. "We've been going over the dump sites for the first three victims."

"Then you need to get back to the precinct, now," she said urgently. "You've got a big problem. First of all… those three women are not the first three victims. There are at least another ten that fit the same MO going back… fifteen years." She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the photos that flashed across her screen.

"Garcia what are you not telling me?"

"Bethany Jenson, the receptionist. She has a history of depression, stemming from high school where she was brutally bullied by a group of cheerleaders. She graduated from high school fifteen years ago around the time the first of my ten potential victims went missing. The victim's name is – was – Melissa Laing. She was the head cheerleader at Bethany's high school."

"All of the missing women… they're attractive, aren't they?" Hotch asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"They're very attractive," Garcia confirmed.

"She's in that precinct with Emily," Hotch said and very uncharacteristically, swore as he started to run for his SUV.

"It gets worse," Garcia said hesitantly.

"How could it possibly get worse? I left Emily in that precinct with a woman who was so traumatized by the events of her high school career that she has been killing surrogates ever since! And Emily is… not what you would call unattractive," he said tersely, already pulling into traffic.

"JJ's there too, with Harrison," Garcia whispered. "He was crying for Em, so JJ brought him there so they could have dinner with Emily. And JJ is blonde, and blue eyed, and gorgeous. Just the kind of woman Bethany would target."

"Call Emily," Hotch barked. "I'll call JJ. Do it now."

* * *

"So that's the woman who hates you out of the blue?" JJ asked, settling herself next to Emily and taking her hand. "Because I don't think she likes me much either. I saw her glaring at me as I came in here. She has some serious issues with the public – I can't imagine she's a very good receptionist if she can't be more professional than that."

"She's an odd duck, I'll give you that," Emily said, glancing out to see what the woman in question was doing. "I mean, it's not as if I really care that much… but it's a little disconcerting to have her clearly hate me so much for no reason at all."

Reid brought Harrison back from the bathroom, and he climbed into a chair by Emily to eat his dinner of a sandwich and an apple. JJ tugged Reid down to sit on her other side, and he did so obediently, automatically reaching for a file and beginning to read. JJ, still clinging to Emily's hand, leaned back into him. "You're a very comfortable pillow, Dr. Reid," she giggled, and Emily smirked.

Bethany entered the little office unannounced again, this time with a mug of coffee for Emily. "You take it black, don't you?" she asked, putting the mug down in front of Emily just a fraction too hard, so that it clattered against the table. "Is this your little boy? He's darling. He looks just like you."

She reached down to stroke Harrison's hair, predictably prompting a shriek of terror as Harrison abandoned his sandwich and clambered from his chair to Emily, wrapping his arms around her neck and hiding his face as best he could.

"He's… not good with strangers," Emily explained awkwardly, stroking his back. She was slightly bewildered that Bethany had come in with coffee for her at all – she'd made a point of bringing coffee for Reid three times now, and each time had pointedly ignored Emily. Thinking that perhaps the sight of her with Harrison had thawed the strange woman slightly, she picked up the mug and took a long swallow to show her appreciation. It was black, how she liked it, and it wasn't bad for cop shop coffee. "Thank you for the coffee," she said genuinely. Whatever she'd done to piss this woman off, she hoped that they could get beyond it now.

Bethany frowned at Harrison's reaction to her touch but quickly composed herself. Why should it surprise her? These women, they took everything from her. It was typical that the dark haired bitch would have not only the man she wanted wrapped around her finger, but the little boy as well. Bethany could have been his mother. She could have been a fantastic mother. "I don't think we've met," she said to JJ, her voice sickly sweet. "I'm Bethany Jenson, the receptionist here."

"I'm Jennifer Jareau," JJ said, reaching to shake Bethany's hand but not sitting up from her position leaning back warmly against Reid. "I just brought Harrison to see Emily. He was getting a little antsy without her."

"Well that's certainly nice of you," Bethany commented, her sharp eyes taking in the tableau before her. "And it means you get to see Dr. Reid at the same time?"

"Oh, absolutely, because my love for Reid knows no bounds," JJ joked, winking at him as he remained engrossed in paperwork, barely noticing anything else. "Ours is a love that will span the ages."

* * *

Bethany forced a smile and left the room, mind racing. The dark haired bitch, Emily, she was taken care of. She'd been so coffee starved that she hadn't thought twice about drinking it. Pretty girls were always so predictably stupid. The blond though, would be an issue. She had to go. Using Dr. Reid as a pillow was crass, tacky and rude, especially in front of a stranger, and Bethany knew that as much as this Jennifer said she loved Dr. Reid, clearly he didn't feel the same way. She would be doing him a favor by getting her out of the way.

This would all work out for her, and finally she, Bethany, would get the guy.

* * *

After finishing the coffee, Emily didn't feel the slow warmth of caffeine creeping through her like she normally did. Instead she felt sleepy, heavy and lethargic. It started slow and then started to take her over.

"Jay," she mumbled as she began to slump forward, "something's… happening." Her eyelids were so heavy, she barely registered the sound of both JJ and Reid trying to wake her, or her phone beginning to ring as the darkness claimed her.

"Emily!" JJ cried, scooping Harrison up just before he would have fallen. "Emily, wake up!"

Reid was roused from his paperwork by the noise and he looked over at Emily in alarm. Harrison was beginning to cry again, and Reid was at a loss. "Take him somewhere," JJ pleaded. "He doesn't need to see me panicking."

Glad for something to do, Reid grabbed Harrison's hand and led him quickly out of the room while JJ continued to try to rouse Emily. He took him right out of the precinct and out into the open air, thinking that he could amuse the little boy by pointing out constellations.

JJ shook Emily again, but then grabbed her phone as it started ringing. "What?" she barked. "Hotch this is not a good time. There's something wrong with Emily… I think there was something in the coffee…"

"JJ listen to me," Hotch said, swearing again as he swerved, putting the siren and lights on to avoid most of the traffic. "The receptionist is the Unsub. Get yourself, Harrison and Emily out of there right now!"

"I can't!" JJ said, panicked. "I'm trying to tell you, there's something wrong with Emily… she's unconscious, I can't wake her up!"

"I'm almost there. Stay in that room. Lock the door, have your gun ready," Hotch started to say, but JJ never heard him. In trying to rouse Emily, she had turned her back on the door to the office. She never saw Bethany coming, until she felt the solid crack on the back of her head and her world went black.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

The last thing Hotch heard before the phone clattered to the floor was the "clunk" of blunt force trauma (he was guessing, but correctly), and the muffled thud of a body crumpling to the floor.

He swerved in and out of traffic, leaning on his horn and yelling out the window for people to get out of his way, as if the siren wasn't enough. It took him seven and a half minutes to get to the precinct, where he found Reid outside with Harrison on his shoulders. Reid looked worried.

"Hotch, there's something wrong with Emily," he began, but Hotch cut him off, handing him his car keys.

"Take the boy. Get him out of here, well out of here. Take him to your apartment, get inside, and put on some cartoons. I'll call you when I can."

Reid knew better than to ask questions, he just buckled a protesting Harrison into the back of Hotch's SUV and drove off.

Drawing his gun, Hotch entered the building. It was mostly deserted at this time of night. All the regular officers had gone home, leaving only his workaholic team and the receptionist on duty, plus a skeleton crew of officers who clearly had no idea what was going on. He signaled them to be quiet, and then proceeded towards the glass walled office he'd left Emily in with Reid. The blinds had been drawn.

"Bethany Jenson, come out," he commanded, but there was no answer. Hearing nothing from inside, he kicked the door open and saw Emily slumped over the table. Quickly, he felt for a pulse. She was fine, just sleeping heavily as far as he could tell. Looking into her abandoned coffee mug he could faintly see the residue of the pills that had been crushed into Emily's drink.

Holstering his gun, he lifted Emily out of the chair with a slight grunt of effort, and laid her on the couch in the corner of the office. Then he went in search of his missing media liaison.

* * *

JJ awoke in a small room that was dim, but not entirely dark. Her head was killing her, and she was dizzy, and her first instinct was to close her eyes against the spinning of the room, but she forced herself to stay awake.

As the seconds ticked by she became more and more aware. Her hands were tied behind her, and she was lying incredibly uncomfortably on top of them. Her hair felt revolting – sticky, stringy and wet, and she figured that was from blood. There were various aches and pains all over her body from the fall, she guessed, but the worst pain aside from her head was coming from her shoulders and upper arms. She had been dragged to… wherever she was.

JJ's head was getting clearer by the moment. If the crazy receptionist woman had had to drag her, that meant she didn't have the upper body strength to lift her. That also meant that they couldn't have got far from the precinct – a chubby, frumpy looking mousy haired woman dragging a body behind her was bound to be noticed. That still didn't tell her where she was, but it gave her hope that the team would be able to find her quickly enough.

She dared a glance upwards, over where she could hear the labored breathing. Bethany was crouched in a corner, eyes wide but staring at nothing in particular. As far as JJ could tell, she was unarmed, but she wasn't about to bet her life on that. Experimentally she stirred, and Bethany snapped right back to reality.

"Are you awake yet, you stupid blond bitch?" she snarled, and JJ's eyes widened slightly at the sheer vitriol in the woman's voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure what I did," JJ said carefully, deciding to try and play the helpless blond damsel card. It had worked wonders with some of the more chauvinistic members of the press – some of them had gone from growling wolves to falling all over themselves to do her bidding when she began fluttering her eyelashes. JJ could sense that Bethany needed control, and so JJ needed to seem as non-threatening as possible. She widened her eyes, willing tears to form.

"Oh, you know. You always know. You know exactly what you do," Bethany rambled. "You come in and you just take and take and take, and he's MINE, do you know that? He understands me, I can tell. We come from the same stock. We move in the same circles. You'll never know how we feel. You can't know what it's like. We're losers, and you're beautiful, right?" She barked this last right in JJ's face.

"You're not a loser," JJ assured her timidly. "And… I'm not trying to take anyone from you. I don't even know who you're talking about, but I'm in a loving, committed relationship, with a woman. I'm not trying to take him from you."

"Dr. Reid and I would have been just fine," Bethany went on. "I figured out his coffee all on my own. He liked it. He liked ME. And we had JUST got past that black haired bitch putting her hands on him and making eyes at him – he finally got her to leave her alone and do her damn work so he could breathe, but just when I think we're getting somewhere, you have to walk in, all blond and gorgeous. And you took one look at me and just knew, didn't you? You knew you could take him from me, so you tried your best. I saw you, with your hands all over him. It isn't going to work this time! I'm older now, I'm…"

JJ was silent for a moment, letting Bethany get it all out, but she couldn't miss the shift in Bethany's demeanor. In a moment, she went from ranting, raving woman to quivering adolescent. The change was evident in her stance, in her expression, and when she spoke, it was in her voice.

"Just tell me why," Bethany whimpered. "What'd I ever do to you, Melissa? I know you don't want to be friends, but I don't understand why you have to be so mean. I do what you ask. I don't breathe the same air as you. I walk the other way when I see you in the halls. Why do you always seek me out just to torture me?"

Fat tears were rolling down her face now and she slumped to the ground, clutching her head in her hands. JJ couldn't help feeling just a little bit sorry for her.

"I'm sorry," she said, playing along. If Bethany was looking at her and seeing Melissa, then she would be Melissa. "The things I do… I didn't mean them."

It was, she realized an instant too late, the most horrifically wrong thing she could have said. With a roar of rage Bethany crossed the room on hands and knees and started punching her violently in the stomach. "You didn't mean them," she sneered. "You didn't mean them because I mean nothing, right? I'm nothing, and you're everything. I know this. You tell me every day that I'm nothing. Well, not anymore!"

Between grunts of pain and gasping for breath, JJ didn't hear the footsteps approaching… but neither did Bethany.

* * *

There was a small supply closet in the basement and Hotch could hear the sounds of a struggle coming from inside. Morgan had arrived to back him up, and together they approached the closet.

The closet didn't lock. Hotch motioned to Morgan and assumed a ready stance while Morgan thumbed the knob and flung the door wide.

* * *

So engrossed was she in giving Melissa what she deserved, Bethany barely noticed when the men entered the closet. She was just reaching for something, anything to crack this bitch over the head with when strong arms grabbed her shoulders and pulled her backwards. She screamed in rage, struggling to get back to Melissa, but now there were handcuffs closing around her wrists, and there was a deep voice was saying something… her Miranda rights. She'd heard them so many times when her guys had read them to common criminals. She never thought she'd be hearing them herself.

She aimed one more kick at Melissa… at Jennifer, she realized, coming back to herself. All of this was their fault. Even when you tied them up and hid them in closets, those stupid, skinny, beautiful popular bitches had a way of making sure every man in the vicinity was doing their bidding and coming running at the drop of a hat. And now Bethany would never win.

* * *

While Hotch dealt with Bethany, Morgan raced to JJ's side. He cut the bindings off her wrists but wouldn't let her get up, holding her down by her shoulders as she struggled, calling out for Emily, for Harrison.

"You need medical attention!" Morgan finally yelled in her face, which shocked her enough that she stopped struggling for a moment. "Now that I've got your attention, Harrison is fine. Reid's got him… I don't know where. Ask Hotch. Emily is sleeping off whatever this crazy bitch gave her, and she's going to be fine, too. But you just took a hell of a beating, and I need you to just stay down until someone checks you out!"

JJ burst into tears, relaxing against the floor as best she could but then just crying harder at the pain when her head impacted the floor. Morgan stroked her hair, trying to calm her down and keep her awake.

"So tell me what Little Man's been up to," he said, knowing that Harrison was a surefire way to get her talking. "Last I heard your Ambassador-in-law bought him a bike. Has he figured out how to ride it yet?"


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

Once Emily and JJ had been checked out at the hospital, they were given a room together to rest in for the night as they were both being kept under surveillance. Hotch and Morgan had come to sit with them, though Emily was still out, and JJ was groggy.

"Where's Harry?" JJ asked for the hundredth time, and finally Hotch was available to answer her.

"He's with Reid at his apartment," he said. "I didn't know how this was going to go down, I didn't know if she was armed, so when I saw Reid out the front with him I just handed him my keys and told him to get Harrison out of here. He's… seen enough."

"Thank you," JJ said. She was grateful that he had been spared the trauma of this evening. She grabbed her phone and called Reid, asking to speak to Harrison.

"Uh, he's asleep. He's asleep on my chest," Reid said awkwardly. When JJ started to snicker, he hastened to explain. "I told him he could watch a movie, but I guess without you or Emily around, he wanted to be close to the only available person… which was me. So I let him sit in my lap while we watched Finding Nemo, but we didn't even get as far as the turtles before he passed out, and now I'm afraid to move him."

"Do you want me to come and get him?" JJ asked, stifling a yawn. Morgan took the phone from her.

"Kid, JJ got smacked in the head with a rock, and Emily was drugged," he said shortly. "Neither of them is in any fit state to be a mom tonight – you can handle it, right?"

Reid nodded nervously before remembering that Morgan couldn't see him down the phone. "I think so," he whimpered. "I mean I can just… sleep like this, right? If I shift a little bit, I can lie down and I won't even need to move him?"

Morgan laughed and told Reid he'd be fine, then hung up the phone. JJ had fallen asleep sitting up, her neck looking horribly uncomfortable, so he shook her awake, earning himself a smack around the arm from a grumpy JJ.

"Let me sleep, jerk," she grumbled.

"You're concussed, so I woke you up. And I'm gonna keep waking you up, whether you like it or not." He beamed at her, laughing at her scowl.

* * *

Emily slept until the sun came up, and then woke groggily. "Reid, can you hand me the other files?" she slurred, reaching out a heavy arm to take the files from him before realizing she was in a hospital bed, with JJ wrapped around her. Morgan, just on his way in to check on them, heard it and his laughter filled the room.

"Damn, I wish I'd recorded that. Garcia would have loved it," he chuckled.

"You're a jerk, Morgan," Emily mumbled, burying her face in JJ's shoulder. "Ugh, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. What happened?"

"You were drugged," Morgan said shortly. "The Unsub – Bethany – crushed sleeping pills into your coffee, then cracked JJ around her head with a rock. Long story short, she had some severe childhood issues. Beautiful women treated her wrong. She took it out on you guys, because you're so good looking and everything. She thought JJ was trying to steal Reid from her."

Emily just groaned, holding JJ tighter as the blond started to wake up. "Can someone please either bring me some aspirin or finish the damn job and kill me?" she groused. Emily started to giggle into her shoulder. "And you can shut up. You just got to sleep for fourteen hours. I'm the one with the concussion."

"Let me kiss it better," Emily said softly, brushing her lips over JJ's forehead even though she knew that wasn't precisely where the wound was.

"Mmm, it's all better," JJ murmured, smiling and closing her eyes. Morgan got up to leave.

"Hey Morgan, where's Harry?" Emily said, concerned about the little boy but still groggy enough that she couldn't quite get up.

"Reid has him, and I have pictures," Morgan snickered. "They're courtesy of Garcia. When she heard what they did last night, she made Hotch drop her off at Reid's place so she could help him. What she walked in on…" He laughed again. "Let's just say you'll enjoy the photos." He bent down and pressed kisses on each of their foreheads.

"Sleep, and don't ever do this to me again," he said softly. "I'm getting too old to keep rescuing your butts."

* * *

The two of them checked out of the hospital as soon as the doctor made his morning rounds, and spent the day in bed, ordering pizza when they felt hungry and snoozing the rest of the time. Emily spent a lazy hour gently massaging JJ's shoulders and upper arms to ease the ache that being dragged had caused, and JJ returned the favor with a neck rub.

Towards the end of the day Morgan came back with Harrison on his hip. As soon as they reached the bedroom Harrison clamored for Emily, so Morgan dumped him gently on the bed, smiling as the little boy clambered under the covers between the women, clearly where he felt the safest.

"I promised you photos, and here you are," Morgan said, handing over his phone. "Little Man fell asleep on Reid, and Reid was too scared to move him, so he just lay down where he was and left him there." Emily and JJ looked, to see a photo of Harrison fast asleep in Reid's lap. They clicked right and saw the natural progression – Reid asleep on his couch, and Harrison still out like a light sprawled over Reid's chest, one little limp arm and leg dangling over the side they could see.

"Oh, that is the cutest thing I have ever seen," Emily exclaimed softly. "Did you have a sleepover with Uncle Reid, Harry?"

Harrison nodded, burrowing into Emily's chest. "We watched Nemo," he said quietly. "And he let me have McDonalds for breakfast."

Emily stroked her little boy's hair and closed her eyes. "Let's just take a nap," she said, and Harrison nodded. Morgan crept out of the room, locking the front door behind him as he left.

* * *

Naturally, Emily was up and ready to go back to work the next day. A handful of sleeping pills were not likely to keep her down for long. JJ's head was still bothering her a little, but not so much that she couldn't care for Harrison, so Emily kissed them goodbye and drove into work.

JJ made pancakes for breakfast and then they went about their day. About halfway through the morning, a call came to her cell regarding daycare.

"Agent Prentiss?" the voice asked hesitantly.

"This is Agent Jennifer Jareau," she replied. "Can I help you?"

"My name is Sarah Greaves from the Happy Valley Preschool. Agent Prentiss asked us to contact her regarding a place for her son, but I can call her back if there's another number I can contact her on?"

"You can speak to me. He's my son too," JJ said.

"Oh, I see. Well the fact is, we've had a transfer – one of our little girls has been pulled from the preschool because her family is moving, and Harrison's name was next on the waiting list. He can start as soon as Monday, if you're amenable?"

"That sounds… good, provisionally," JJ said carefully. "I'll have to discuss it with my partner and call you back. There are still some slight behavioral issues stemming from his… life experiences. I trust Agent Prentiss made you aware of the situation?"

"Yes, we're aware. She made the point that if we could manage to find him a spot before her maternity leave was used up, she could accompany him on his first few days and help him acclimatize. That's why we… bumped him up a few spots on the list, if you'll excuse my saying."

Thanking the woman, JJ hung up and called Emily, filling her in. "So he can start on Monday… but she thought you'd be around to take him. You know what he's like with strangers."

"Do you not want to take him?" Emily asked, concerned but distracted by her mountain of paperwork. "It would mean, if we could get him comfortable there, that you could come back to work too."

"I just don't know if I'll be able to keep him calm the way you do," JJ fretted.

"You'll be fine, baby. Call her back and get him booked in, and see if you can take him on a visit today, perhaps? Jack will be there, so it won't be all hard work. If he really won't settle for you, I'll see what I can do about trading places with you, but I think you'll be fine."

Another phone call and the arrangements were made, and JJ and Harrison made their way to Happy Valley for a visit.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

Harrison was probably not going to be the Big Man on Campus of Happy Valley Preschool.

When they arrived, he took one look at all the children milling around and didn't just hold up his arms for JJ to pick him up. He climbed, up her body, into her arms in panic. "Too many people, Mama," he whimpered. She stroked his back to soothe him, but didn't move from where she was standing.

"It's okay, baby. They're just children, like you. There are lots of new friends for you to meet. And look, there's Jack!" As she said this, Jack came zooming over, making airplane noises. JJ reached down at his grin and hoisted him up onto her other hip for a hug, before setting him back on his feet.

"C'mon, Harry! Let's go play on the swings!" Jack said excitedly, and Harrison lifted his head from JJ's neck long enough to look doubtfully at his friend. "It's really fun out there," Jack insisted, and Harrison was swayed. He let JJ set him on the floor and he reached for Jack's hand, and together they went outside to the swing set.

JJ followed at a safe distance and nodded at Sarah, who was walking over to greet her. They shook hands and introduced themselves, then turned to watch how Harrison was doing. To say he was doing well would have been a little too generous. Plenty of children were walking up and introducing themselves, but Harrison just shrank back behind Jack

"He's my best friend Harry and he's shy," Jack announced loudly, but this wasn't enough to keep the interest of most of the kids and they soon wandered off to find better things to do with their time. JJ watched the tension leave Harrison's little shoulders as the attention slowly shifted away from him. Jack helped him into a swing and started pushing him, and JJ smiled, heart clenching a little.

"Would you excuse me a moment?" she said to Sarah. "I just have to make a phone call."

When Hotch picked up, all JJ said was, "Thank you. You have a wonderful son, and you should be proud of him."

"What did he do?" Hotch asked, and JJ filled him in before thanking him again and hanging up.

* * *

Exhausted by his afternoon at preschool, Harrison was in no fit state to do much of anything by the time they headed home. Ordering pizza in lieu of cooking something that would take longer and likely be wasted anyway by the exhausted little boy, JJ put on some slow music and picked him up, letting him sprawl across her chest as she swayed gently around the living room with him.

Emily came home a couple of songs in, moving to greet them but pausing when JJ indicated she should be quiet. Harrison was almost, but not quite, asleep in JJ's arms. Emily moved up and wrapped her arms around JJ, effectively sandwiching Harrison in between them. Together they continued to sway lightly, the three of them wrapped around each other.

Emily looked down at Harrison's sleepy face, and then up into JJ's blue eyes and suddenly, she realized something. Her life had never been this perfect. Without overthinking it, she smiled lovingly at JJ as they swayed. "Marry me," she blurted in a whisper.

JJ's eyes went wide for just a moment before she recovered, and nodded, grinning.

* * *

"Would you like to know the sex of your baby?" the sonogram technician asked as she moved the wand gently over Garcia's gently rounded stomach.

"No… I mean yes," Garcia said, then hesitated, looking over at Hotch. He was no help. He was too busy staring at the screen, engrossed in the sight and sound of their baby. "Hotch, do you want to know, or would you rather wait?"

He snapped out of it, just in time to shake his head. "I don't want to know, I'd rather be surprised. But you can find out, if you think you can keep it from me."

Garcia bit her lip, and then nodded, so Hotch made a show of covering his ears.

"Congratulations, Ms. Garcia, you're having a…"

* * *

Once Harrison was in bed, Emily came back out to the living room to see JJ looking at her with the oddest expression on her face. "Is everything okay?" she asked, concerned.

JJ took her hand and tugged her down to sit on the couch and swung her leg over Emily's, straddling her lap. "Did you mean it?" she asked breathlessly. "Did you really mean it?"

Emily nodded sheepishly. "It wasn't very romantic. I'm sorry."

"But did you mean it?"

Emily only had time to nod again before JJ's lips were on hers, kissing her hard. She groaned, feeling JJ's tongue invade her mouth and her hands invade her shirt at the same time. "Do you know," she said between kisses, "that I love everything about you? I love your nose. I love your hair. God, I love your smile… I love your body." JJ bit down where she knew it would affect Emily the most. "I love the noises you make when I bite you here… they make me so crazy."

She pushed herself closer to Emily, biting her again. "But most of all, I love the way you think you have to apologize because you think your spontaneous, beautiful, perfect proposal wasn't 'romantic' enough." Dragging her tongue over the rapidly purpling patch of skin, she whimpered, guiding Emily's hand down and into her underwear.

"Yes, I wanna marry you," she moaned. "Now take me to bed."

* * *

"I think I made a mistake," Garcia grumbled as she lay in bed with Hotch later that evening. "I mean, now I have this secret that I have to keep from you, and all I want to do is start buying baby clothes and picking out names, but I'm afraid that anything I do will give the game away. I'm not… subtle," she went on as Hotch started to chuckle.

"There are other things we could talk about," he said. "Like, where are you going to live when the baby is born? Would you want to stay here, in your one bedroom apartment? Or… maybe you would rather live in a nice house, with me and sometimes Jack?"

Garcia looked at him, startled. "Do you mean that?" she asked. He nodded, and she smiled shyly. "That… might be nice," she said slowly.

"And if you want to talk about names… we could talk about surnames," he suggested.

"I want the last name to be Garcia," Garcia said firmly. "If we were married – not that I'm hinting, so please don't think I am – that would be one thing, but I don't want my child to have the same name as you and have me be the odd one out. I don't want to be the mom explaining to daycare centers and grade schools why my child has a different surname to me, I just… I'm being ridiculous."

"I understand," Hotch said, though he couldn't deny that he was a little disappointed.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

Together they decided that they didn't want to announce their engagement to the team until they had rings to show off, so the next day they and Harrison went shopping.

"You're very quiet," Emily said after a long period of silence from JJ.

"I was just thinking," JJ said awkwardly. "I forget sometimes that even though we're both on government salaries, you have a lot more money in reserve than I do. I don't want you to go all out, because I… I can't compete."

Emily frowned. "I'm not asking you to compete, Jay. I'm just asking you to love me. You could give me the ring out of a box of cereal and it'd be perfect, because it'd mean I'm getting you."

JJ smiled brightly, and was just about to lean in and kiss her when a familiar voice gave her pause. "JJ, is that you?" JJ looked up and Emily watched as her face went white, her smile tight.

"Elle Greenaway."

Elle walked over with an awkward smile on her face and held out her arms for JJ. They embraced lightly, neither letting themselves linger.

"This is Emily Prentiss," JJ introduced. "Emily, this is Elle Greenaway. Emily is actually the agent hired to take your position when you… left, Elle." She offered that same tight smile. "And, uh, we're…" She looked to Emily for confirmation that it was okay to reveal the rest, and she nodded. "We're getting married," she said uncomfortably.

Harrison piped up from Emily's arms, where he'd scrambled when the stranger had approached them. "Who is that lady, Mama?"

JJ turned to explain the connection to Harrison as Elle's expression turned almost shocked. "You're getting married to her?" She let out a long breath. "So you lied to me."

"What do you mean, she lied to you?" Emily asked curiously. There was something going on here that she didn't quite understand, and from the stricken expression on JJ's face and the anxious way Elle was shifting her weight from foot to foot, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"It's… complicated," JJ said cagily.

"Well, you two clearly have a lot to catch up on," Emily said after a short pause to process this. She shifted Harrison in her arms and bit her lip. "But I have an idea – why don't you and Elle go for coffee, and Harry and I will go pick out a ring for you, Mama Jay? And you can take my AmEx and pick one out for me, if you want? We can talk finances later tonight."

JJ nodded, so Emily took her leave, carrying Harrison away and leaving JJ with Elle. "Mommy, I didn't like that lady," Harrison whispered.

"I'm not sure I did either," Emily said, letting out a breath to try to keep her face steady. After kissing JJ – rather self-consciously – she carried Harrison in the direction of a jewelry store that had caught her eye, while JJ and Elle headed for a nearby coffee shop.

* * *

Elle didn't even wait until they had made it to a table with their coffees before she started in on JJ. "So that night, in the hotel, you lied to me," she stated. "You told me you were straight, and that you weren't interested."

JJ sighed. She hadn't ever thought she would have to explain things to Elle, that what she had said that night would be enough. She'd thought that when Elle had left, she would never see her again. By the time she was meeting and falling in love with Emily, she'd put that night with Elle out of her mind completely. Of course they would have to run into her while shopping for engagement rings, of all things.

"I didn't lie to you," she said finally. "Look, what happened in that hotel room… that had nothing to do with you, and everything to do with that case and how I felt when it was all over. You know the FBI has rules about same sex roommates on location… and you know that those rules are the only reason we were even sharing a room that night. If it had been Morgan, or Hotch, or Jesus, even Gideon in that hotel room, I would have done the same thing."

"You kissed me!" Elle insisted.

"No, you kissed me," JJ responded. "I hugged you. You hugged back. I needed the human contact, Elle. It was you who leaned in and kissed me, and yeah, I probably should have stopped it before it started, but I was… needy, I was desperate to feel something that wasn't horror and despair. You were warm. I remember you being warm and soft…"

Elle looked stricken. "So you used me, then," she accused, hurt coloring her features.

"It wasn't like that!" JJ exclaimed. "If you hadn't kissed me then all it would have been was a simple hug between two coworkers who had had a bad day! You just… caught me off guard with the kiss, was all. It… wasn't bad," she said, blushing.

"You said you were straight," Elle insisted. "When you pushed me away, you said it was because you were straight, and you didn't feel that way about me."

"At the time, that's what I truly believed. I mean, I liked that kiss, but I convinced myself I liked it because it came at a time when I was craving human contact, and well, because you're just plain good at kissing. I never once let myself consider that I might be attracted to women. It just wasn't in my realm of experience."

Elle sighed and looked down at her coffee. "See, here's the thing. I liked you, JJ. I thought… when you came to me that night, I thought maybe you felt the same way. You hurt me. You kissed back, JJ! I wouldn't have pushed if I didn't think…" She sighed again and changed the subject slightly. "So tell me about her."

The way JJ lit up from the inside out when she talked about Emily was painfully obvious to Elle. "When we first started to get close, I still didn't know I like women… but she and I just worked. She gave me a backrub one night and I ended up staying at her house, and it just went from there. We didn't even… make love, until long after I realized that I'd fallen for her hard. Our relationship wasn't ever about that, about the physical stuff, not until we were ready and we'd built something real without sex."

"What does she have that I don't?"

JJ looked at Elle for a long moment before answering. What did Emily have that Elle didn't? For starters, Emily was soft and safe where Elle had been prickly and volatile. Emily had offered genuine friendship that had grown, and Elle had taken an opening for friendship and pushed physicality on her. Emily let JJ see her vulnerability, despite how hard it was for her to let anyone in, while Elle was so closed off that no one had even had a chance to help her before she had exploded in on herself and killed a man. But JJ couldn't say any of that, not if she wanted to get out of this coffee shop without fighting.

"She has my heart," she said at length. She shrugged, smiling a little at how corny she knew she sounded. "I don't know how she got it – she just crept in like a thief in the night and took it, before I realized what had happened."

"That's… thank God you work for the FBI and not for Hallmark, because that was god awful," Elle joked weakly. JJ returned her tentative smile. "And… is the little boy hers?"

"He's a long story," JJ said. "You could… come for dinner, maybe – tomorrow night? We could tell you about him then. The short version is that he's ours now."

They stood as one, and left the coffee shop together. "I think maybe I will," Elle said, "if that's okay. I'd like to meet her properly. I don't think I made a very good first impression. I was too busy… remembering how much I wanted you."

"Why didn't you just say something back then?" JJ asked uncomfortably.

"Why didn't you notice?" Elle countered as they parted ways.

* * *

"Hotch, the baby is kicking!" Garcia garbled into the phone. She heard swift footsteps approaching her lair in moments, and grinned as he opened the door and barged in, a matching grin on his face.

"Let me feel," he requested. Garcia took his hand and guided it to the spot where their child was making its presence known to the outside world. "Oh, we've got ourselves a quarterback," he said fondly.

* * *

"We need to talk," JJ said to Emily once she had let herself into their house a couple of hours later. "I owe you an explanation for what happened back there."

"Whatever it was, it happened before you knew me," Emily said uncomfortably. "I don't… you don't have to explain it to me."

"But I want to," JJ said simply. "Where's Harry?"

"He's watching Nemo in our room. Listen before we get into this whole "sharing our past" thing… let me do this, okay?" She pulled a ring box out of her pocket and got down on one knee. "I screwed this up, and I should have done it right, but I'm hoping this makes up for it. Marry me, Jennifer. Marry me, because as long as I live, I want you by my side." She smiled sheepishly.

JJ took one look at the stunning ring and gasped. It was big, but she had expected that. It wasn't so big that it was tacky though. A single diamond adorned the top of the white gold ring, flanked on either side by two smaller diamonds. "It's beautiful," she said softly, and held out her hand for Emily to slip the ring on her finger. "And yes, I'll marry you. I know there's nowhere else I'm ever going to want to be."

She reached into the small bag she was carrying and held out her own offering. It was simple gold with one central diamond. When she had seen it in the store, she had thought that it was very like Emily. It was practical but beautiful, precious but understated. It looked like it belonged on her finger. They kissed, lingering sweetly before pulling away just far enough to sink into each other's' embrace. "I love you," JJ murmured. "I love you more than I was aware I was capable of loving anyone."

Emily smiled and sat down on the couch, pulling JJ into her arms. "I love you too. Now tell me what you want to tell me, before it eats you alive."


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

JJ closed her eyes. "You know how it is when you're on a case, in the field. FBI rules don't allow men and women to share rooms in the field, so Elle and I ended up together by default constantly, the same way you and I do. But you and I, we clicked instantly, don't you think? We were friends from the beginning, and so when we shared a room in the beginning it was almost like a slumber party between friends, or college roommates. With Elle, things were usually distant and almost frosty. She's not… she isn't the friend type."

Emily dug her thumbs into JJ's neck and started working out the kinks there. The rest of JJ's story was punctuated with moans and sighs. "And you know what I'm like after a case, especially the worst ones. I get… needy. I get clingy. I need contact." She let out a moan as Emily hit a sensitive spot. "One night I came into the room and I needed a hug, so I just… hugged her. She didn't just hold me, she leaned in and kissed me, and for a couple of moments I let myself get lost in it, in the feeling of just… kissing. Then I realized what was happening and pushed her away. I told her I was straight, and that I didn't feel that way about her."

"So I don't understand what the big deal is?" Emily asked, leaning down and pressing her lips to JJ's neck. Her breath washed over JJ's ear. "One kiss long before you even knew me… I'm not sure why you thought that would upset me so much."

"So… I just needed you to know that when I said I'd never been attracted to a woman before you, I wasn't lying," JJ panted. "I was never attracted to Elle the way I'm attracted to you. As horrible as it sounds, I just… needed human contact, and she was there. I didn't know, until today, that she has actual feelings for me."

"And there was nothing between you two?"

JJ smiled reassuringly. "Nothing. Any feelings she thinks were there between us were all in her head. And I'm so happy now. I can't imagine being with anyone else, not ever."

"So you still want me?" Emily asked in a small voice. As good as things were between the two of them, there was still a part of the old Emily lingering, the Emily who was convinced that she wasn't good enough for anyone to want a second go with.

JJ turned in her arms, moving to straddle her and kissing her deeply. "Baby, I told you. I'm always going to want you. I'm always going to need you. I'm not like anyone else you've ever been with – I'm smart enough to know how special and perfect you are, and I'm smart enough to never let you go."

Emily smiled shyly. "You could do so much better, you know."

"No, I couldn't." JJ's tone allowed no room for argument.

* * *

The next night when Elle came to the door, Emily answered. She had already decided not to make a huge deal of Elle's supposed feelings for JJ, and so when she opened the door she greeted the younger woman with a smile.

"Hello," she said. "I'm glad you could make it."

Harrison kept close to Emily. Being introduced to Elle once was not enough. He was confused about who she was, and wary of a new person in the house. "Mommy, who is she?" he asked again. This time, Emily scolded him gently.

"Harry, we talked about this. This is Mama's friend Elle that she used to work with, and she's come to dinner to meet you and me. Are you going to be a big boy and say hello?" Harrison's therapist had suggested gently pushing him through his "stranger danger" issues – never making a huge deal of it or forcing him, but making it clear to him that talking to new people was safe. After deliberating for a long moment, Harrison appeared to screw up his courage, and approached Elle tentatively.

"Hey, little man," Elle said. "Do you remember me from yesterday? My name is Elle."

"Little Man is what Uncle Derek calls me," Harrison said doubtfully. "Do you know Uncle Derek?" He climbed up on the couch and sat down, almost beside Elle.

"Derek used to be my partner," Elle said. JJ frowned slightly. From what she remembered of Elle on cases, she was okay with the children, but not exactly stellar. She didn't seem to have a "kid voice", the way she and Hotch and even Morgan did. But, JJ reflected, she'd thought the same thing about Emily until she'd seen her with Harrison.

She brought the food out and everyone sat round the table, helping themselves to spaghetti and garlic bread. Harrison, like Jack, had still not mastered the art of eating spaghetti neatly, and Emily and JJ found themselves giggling along with him as he got it everywhere. Elle didn't join in.

In between bites, JJ and Emily told Elle the story of their relationship and how Harrison came to live with them. Elle's expression grew stonier and stonier, her smile frozen and fixed as if her face would shatter if she let it slip.

"Hey lady, are you okay?" Harrison asked her at length. "You look kind of… sick."

Elle looked down at her half eaten meal. "I'm sorry, I just… JJ, this is what I wanted with you, and it's hard for me to see you find it with someone else."

It was JJ's turn to look down at her plate. "I just never felt like that about you, Elle. I never even knew you considered us friends, let alone had feelings for me. And I think… if I'd known that, then it wouldn't have changed anything. I've never felt like this about anyone. Emily's just… it."

"Mommy kissed the princess and now they have to live happily ever after," Harrison piped up helpfully, but his eyes widened when he saw tears beginning to splash down Elle's cheeks. "Uh oh, Mama, I think you made the lady cry."

Sensing it was time to get Harrison out of the room Emily stood and plucked Harrison out of his chair. "I think it's time to clean up this face," she said, trying to inject a cheerful tone into her voice. She took him upstairs, cleaned him up quickly, and left him in her and JJ's bedroom with a movie before returning to the scene in the living room.

"JJ… What is it about her that makes you love her, when you couldn't love me?" Elle was still pressing the issue. JJ looked stricken, at a complete loss for an answer that would satisfy Elle. Emily stood in the corner, offering silent support but not approaching the other two, wanting to avoid a confrontation with the upset woman.

"I don't know! How does anyone know they're in love? It's like a spark. It's just… there, with Emily, and it wasn't there with you. I can't force myself to love you, just like I can't make myself stop loving her. I don't know what you want from me!"

"I want one kiss," Elle said. "I want you to kiss me, properly, and then tell me you feel nothing. I know you JJ, and I know the hours you work at the BAU. I know that she's probably the only prospect you've had in a long time, and I can't be satisfied that she isn't just… convenient, until you show me otherwise. I could have been just as convenient, you know."

"I can't do that," JJ said, immediately and firmly. "I'm with Emily. I'm marrying Emily, and I can honestly say that I have no desire to look elsewhere."

Emily listened as JJ quickly and concisely shut Elle down, and felt a surge of warmth and affection. JJ hadn't even needed to think for a split second about her options – she'd known her answer as soon as Elle made her ridiculous request. But was it really so ridiculous? The more Emily thought about it, the more she realized that it might tie up some loose ends – for Elle and for JJ.

"Do it," she said softly. JJ's head snapped around to face her, her expression confused. Emily blushed. "Kiss her. I'll… I'll watch." Well, that had come out rather dirtier than Emily had intended. "It's like saying goodbye, right?"

Elle was already moving in as JJ thought about it, then nodded slowly. "Just one kiss," she whispered. "Just one and you can't ask me to do this ever again, Elle. I love Emily."

"Okay," Elle whispered back, then closed the gap between them.

Emily held her breath, watching the two of them. Her mouth felt suddenly dry, and her hands were clenching into fists at her sides. She'd wanted them to do this, because she thought it would be the easiest way to get Elle to leave, but she hadn't counted on how it would make her feel. There was that uneasy twist of jealousy in the pit of her stomach, sure, but there was also a rapidly building heat somewhat lower.

It seemed like Elle was doing her best to seduce JJ with this one kiss, and JJ certainly seemed slightly rattled by it. Emily could see the telltale signs – JJ's knees wobbling slightly, the flush across her cheeks, her hands fluttering uselessly, unable to focus long enough to figure out what to do with them.

Elle parted JJ's lips with her tongue and deepened the kiss. After flicking her eyes at Emily, JJ let Elle explore her mouth, spurred on by the look of arousal on Emily's face. Surprising all three of them, it was Emily who broke the silence in the room, letting out a whimper.

JJ pulled away, and Elle took a moment to just breathe before speaking. "You taste even better than I remember," she murmured. "But… this didn't change anything, did it."

"No, it didn't," JJ agreed softly. "It was a good kiss, it felt good, but I'm still in love with Emily, and I think we both knew that wouldn't change."

After saying a rather misty goodbye, Elle left in a hurry, and Emily and JJ were alone in the living room.

"I'm sorry," JJ said immediately. "I don't want you thinking that I've been hanging out all these years to kiss her again, because that is so not the case."

"It's okay," Emily assured her. "I told you to do it, after all. I thought…" She laughed. "I thought it might help you figure out if you like girls, or you like me."

JJ couldn't help laughing too. The whole situation was so ridiculous. "Well, if you want the truth… I think it's pretty certain that I like girls," she said shyly. "Elle is a good kisser. But I'm definitely in love with you. I feel so much more with you, trust me. You're the one that I want."


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

The moment Emily walked into the bullpen Morgan knew what she and JJ had been up to the night before. "Damn, Prentiss," he whistled, "I've seen you after a night of good loving, but you look like JJ spent all damn night tearing you up!"

Emily's face flushed bright red and she clutched her suit jacket a little tighter around her, as if it could mask the bite marks on her neck. JJ had made good on her promise, and she had indeed made Emily scream. Of course, Emily had returned the favor with gusto. It had been the single most erotic, intense, insane night of sex of Emily's life, and she didn't regret a single moment of it – despite Morgan's teasing.

"That's enough," she said quietly. "It's one thing to rag on me in my backyard while we're barbecuing steaks, but please don't do it here. I have to work with these people, and I can't do that if they can't take me seriously."

To his credit, for once Morgan stopped in his tracks. "Message received," he said softly, offering a smile. "Just tell me one thing. Does JJ look as thoroughly… loved… as you do?"

Emily's lips curved in one of her radiant grins and she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Derek, if JJ can walk straight today, then she's got more stamina than any of us have given her credit for." With a wink, she sat down at her desk. "And if that's the case, then I guess I'll just have to try harder tonight, right?"

As Reid, sitting close by, choked on his coffee, Morgan roared with laughter and reached over to clap Emily on the back proudly.

* * *

JJ put on Harrison's favorite CD and the two of them sang along at the top of their voices in the car on the way to daycare. There was a bounce in her step that she couldn't quite hide as she dropped him off, kissing him goodbye and heading out the door. Today was an experiment for her. Though she fully intended to stay with Harrison, she had told him she was leaving. This way, she was close enough to dive in if anything went wrong, but she got to see how he coped when he thought he was completely by himself.

She watched through a window with Sarah, the preschool director, standing beside her. "He's blossoming," Sarah remarked. "It's been what, a week since you first brought him in? And on that first day all he would do is cower behind Jack Hotchner. Now look at him."

JJ looked. Harrison still wasn't the most gregarious of kids, but he was a lot more confident. Today he'd made a beeline for the train set in the corner, and he and Jack had spent the better part of half an hour setting up an elaborate track for the toy trains to run on. He was completely absorbed, and JJ grinned. "So you think he'll be okay if I duck out for hour or so?" she asked. "I have my phone."

Sarah nodded. "I don't know that I'd recommend trying him for a whole day yet, but as far as this day goes, this morning, he's completely wrapped up in what he's doing. I don't think he's even registered that you're not here."

JJ took the chance, and decided to hit up the toy store while she had the chance without Harrison. Given that he had been so absorbed in the trains, she picked out a small train set for him to play with at home. She was just about to head back to Happy Valley when she spotted Elle.

Her heart sank. She had somehow convinced herself that after Elle left the night before, that would be the last she saw of her, but there she was, walking down the street toward her.

"Are you following me?" JJ asked self-consciously.

"I'm not following you, I just… made an educated guess at where you'd be," Elle responded guiltily. "I just had to see you again. Last night…"

"Last night was supposed to be the end of it," JJ said firmly. "I thought you understood that I'm not looking to leave Emily. I love her. I'm wearing her ring!" She brandished her left hand like a weapon.

"You kissed me like someone who needs a little something more," Elle insisted.

"Maybe I did need a little something more," JJ countered. "But after you left, Emily gave me everything I needed, and more."

Elle took in the blond woman's appearance, from the sparkle in her eye to the glow of her skin. "So you two got it on? Let me tell you something, JJ. However good you think she is? She's got nothing on me. I guarantee it. Give me one night, and you'll never want to leave."

JJ blushed slightly, but shook her head. "I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer, Elle. Go home. Leave me – us – alone. We're happy. We're a family. If you ever had any feelings for me at all, you'll respect that. Please, respect my happiness."

"Why can't I respect my own happiness?" Elle asked in an anguished voice.

"Elle, you had plenty of chances years ago to show me that you liked me, but you never once took any of them. You were never a friend. We never talked late at night in hotel rooms in obscure small towns on cases. You never called me on the weekends just to get coffee. We never connected, and it wasn't due to lack of trying on my part. You don't get to stand there and berate me for feeling nothing for you when you gave the distinct impression that you felt nothing for me. I can't even say that I moved on, because you gave me nothing to move on from. We were nothing. As far as I knew, I was nothing more than a coworker to you."

"Then let me try to be the friend you say I failed so hard at being back then," the dark haired woman attempted desperately.

"Can you even be a friend?" JJ asked. "Or are these feelings for me going to keep getting in your way?"

For a long time, Elle said nothing. JJ could almost see the moment when, all her appeals exhausted, she finally accepted that there had never been anything between them, and now there could never be. "I envy your little boy," she said at length. "What you said happened to him, that was horrific, and I'm sorry he had to go through that, but… he gets to grow up with you. He gets you for a mother, and I'm not sure I have the words to express how wonderful a gift that is – to be close to you, to know your love, your warmth."

JJ said nothing, letting Elle get this out. She did flush a little at the compliment though.

"And I envy… her. I hope she knows what she has. If she ever…" Elle started the sentence, but apparently thought better of it before finishing. "In a few months, I'll call you. We'll have coffee. This… will never have happened."

"I look forward to it," JJ said gently. She wanted to hug Elle goodbye, but something told her that might not be the best idea. "Goodbye, Elle."

* * *

Andrew was taller, bigger, stronger and meaner than Harrison, so when he came up, pushed Harrison over and took the train from him, Harrison didn't fight back. Instead he cried. He looked around, seeing who was there to help him. Jack leaped into action. "Don't push him!" he yelled, snatching the train back and handing it to Harrison.

Jack and Andrew were both reprimanded for fighting, and Harrison just stood there and cried. Where was his mama? Where did she go, why did she leave him? He'd felt okay while Jack was with him, but now Jack had to have a time-out in the corner for snatching the train, and Harrison was all alone, and all the people there were too close, and he didn't like it, not one bit.

He scrambled under a table and howled for JJ, who was just arriving, not that he was aware of this, unable to see the front entrance. Sarah gave her a ten second briefing before letting her in the playroom, where she hurried to Harrison's side, half crawling under the table with him. "Harrison. Harry! Look at Mama, baby. Look at Mama," she called, trying to get his attention. She put both hands on his cheeks and turned his head gently to make eye contact with her, seeing that his pupils were dilated, his face pale, his little chest heaving with every breath. "Mama," he choked, throwing himself in her arms, and she held him tightly.

She stood with him in her arms and looked around helplessly. "I have to take him home," she said. "I highly doubt I'll be able to calm him down with so many people around."

In fact she wasn't sure she could calm him at all, and was already mentally making plans to drop in at the BAU and let Harrison see Emily.

Jack, fresh from his time out, ran to JJ's side. "JJ, I'm sorry," he said, starting to add his own tears to the noise in the room. "Andrew pushed him down, and I tried to help but then I got a time out and I had to leave him all alone, and that's when he got scared!"

Seeing red, JJ rounded on the nearest staff member. "Who was watching them?" she demanded. "Who let a bigger, older child bully my severely traumatized son, and then removed the single comfort he had by putting Jack in a time out?"

"Agent Jareau, please see it from our perspective," the young preschool teacher said calmly. "We have a dozen children to watch, each. We can't be watching every child all of the time. And it would hardly be fair to the other children if Jack Hotchner gets to break a rule and escapes discipline purely because your son is throwing a tantrum."

"My son is not throwing a tantrum," JJ snarled, turning so that the woman could see Harrison's wide, terrified eyes. "If you've had any training in child development and child psychology at all, you would be able to differentiate between a tantrum and a full blown panic attack." She looked to Sarah. "I want her written up," she went on. "I was assured that every one of your staff members knew about my son's… past, and were prepared to be sensitive to his needs during this transition period. She knew damn well he wouldn't be able to cope with me gone and Jack forced into a corner. The way she's speaking to me, the dismissive attitude she's taking towards my son's very real panic is completely unacceptable."

The young woman began to splutter, but Sarah interjected. "Agent Jareau is right, Angela," she said coldly. "We've had several meetings and briefings about Harrison Wyatt, and you were all told what he had been through, and that panic attacks like this were likely. If Jack Hotchner needed to be disciplined, that is one thing, but not at the expense of the safety and security of another child, and you are certainly not to speak to one of our parents in that manner."

JJ was already gathering Harrison's things. His panic was fading now that she was here, and Jack was out of the corner, but she still wasn't going to keep him there.

"I'll be speaking to Agent Prentiss and Agent Hotchner about what happened here today," JJ said coldly. "The likelihood is, either she is removed from this facility, or our children will be." Still clutching Harrison to her chest, she bent down to kiss Jack goodbye and left the preschool.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

In the end, JJ decided against a trip to the BAU. Harrison wasn't in any condition to play with Garcia and Morgan, and she didn't want to set a precedent that any time something went wrong he would be guaranteed a trip to see Mommy. For today, for now, Mama would have to do.

And Harrison was okay, more or less. His sobs had faded to whimpers before they were even out the preschool door, and he was asleep in his seat before they were halfway home. JJ pulled into their driveway and turned off the engine, taking a moment to gather herself before picking Harrison up out of his seat and carrying him up to his bed. She kissed his sleeping face and left the room, going down to the living room to call Emily and tell her what had happened.

Minutes after she hung up the phone with Emily it rang and Sarah was on the line, offering apologies and explanations. Angela, it seemed, had been reprimanded before for unprofessional behavior and offending parents. The incident with Harrison had been her last warning, the final straw, and her employment had been terminated. Sarah asked JJ to reconsider pulling Harrison out of the preschool, because as upsetting as the day had been, he was actually starting to settle in.

"Look, I can't make that kind of decision on my own," JJ said finally. "I need to wait until Emily gets home so we can discuss it, but I have to be honest. If that's the way discipline is dealt with in your preschool, that's not an environment I want my son in."

"I assure you, Angela was the exception and certainly not the rule," Sarah said. "Please, give the rest of us the benefit of the doubt."

* * *

When Emily got home she was prepared to run to Harrison, but JJ stopped her. "He's asleep," she said softly. "And he needs to know that… as much as you love him, you're not always going to come running for every little thing. He needs to be able to calm himself down, or he's never going to be able to function in the real world."

"I don't want him to feel like we abandoned him," Emily fretted.

"He doesn't feel like that at all," JJ promised. "Baby, as soon as I realized what was happening, I was right under that table with him, and when I managed to get his attention, he DID take comfort in my presence. He's forming healthy attachments, to you, to me, to Jack and the others – it's just going to take some time for him to acclimatize fully." She leaned in and kissed Emily softly. "You're doing such a good job with him."

Emily sighed. "I'm sorry. I feel like all my time lately has been taken up either with him, or with the job… and I don't want you to feel abandoned either." She tugged JJ closer. "Last night was amazing," she murmured, and JJ let out a breathy giggle.

"I couldn't keep my hands off you," she said sheepishly. "I just… wanted you in every way I could think of."

"I never want you keep your hands off me," Emily laughed.

* * *

It had been six months since Emily and JJ had first kissed, three months since Harrison had come home with Emily, and apart from a couple of setbacks, most notably Harrison's meltdown in preschool, things were progressing well. Emily knew she would have to wait eighteen months before she could even think about applying to legally adopt him, but in her head, she saw this less as a waiting period, but more as a time to prepare. While the time ticked by, she could be getting all their ducks in a row – and marrying JJ would be a good first step.

As the weeks passed, Harrison was opening up more and more. It wasn't unusual now to have Hotch, or Morgan, or even her mother stop by and "kidnap" Harrison for the afternoon or for the night. Emily felt like Harry spent as much time with Hotch and Jack as he did with herself and JJ, and Morgan had never quite recovered from how charmed he'd been to be called a "noble knight" the first time he'd met the little boy.

And Elizabeth Prentiss had been the real shock of the piece. At first, her input had been limited to gifts – there had been the bicycle, and another time a trampoline (which Emily was convinced that Morgan and Reid liked more than Harrison did). When she heard that Emily was reading Enid Blyton books to Harry, she had a full set of Famous Five mysteries giftwrapped and sent over. But as time passed, the presents slowed, and she replaced them with herself. Confident now in letting Harrison call her Mommy, Emily had allowed her mother to start referring to herself as Grandma around the little boy, and he had picked it up with gusto.

Emily had never seen her mother smile quite as widely as she did when she first opened the door and heard Harrison shriek "Grandma!" and leap into her arms. She might have been jealous if it weren't for the fact that Harrison was actually bringing Emily closer to her mother as well.

Harrison had gone home with Elizabeth after the weekly picnic, leaving Emily and JJ with some rare alone time on their hands. "You know what?" she said quietly, holding up her hand and admiring her ring.

"What?" JJ was beside her in their bed, curled up into her side and half asleep.

"I love you," Emily said simply. "I feel like I don't say it enough. There's never enough time, never enough words to express how incredibly perfect my life is with you in it."

JJ beamed at her. "I think you don't give yourself enough credit," she replied. "You always talk about how perfect your life is now that I'm in it, but you've never bothered to consider your own contribution to this perfection."

Emily blushed. "Oh please, I was handed all of this on a silver platter. I fell in love with my best friend and was just lucky enough for her to fall in love with me. I went to work one day, got smacked upside the back of my head and kidnapped, and came out of that with a beautiful son – and I got to skip the whole diaper thing." She laughed. "Sometimes I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know?"

JJ stretched her legs out and waggled her toes teasingly. "How can the other shoe drop, when I'm not wearing any?" she said with a smirk.

"You know, Harrison isn't coming back tonight," Emily said, choosing to ignore the remark. "I think we should have a proper… date. We should go out for dinner, and then come back here and I can finally…" She paused, not wanting to ruin the surprise. She'd planned this in her head weeks ago, before Harrison was even a consideration, and she had just realized that tonight was the perfect time to put her plan in motion. "Get up. Get in the shower, and then put on something pretty. I'm taking you out."


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

Emily didn't often show off the fact that she and her family had money. What she spent, she generally spent on practical things. She bought good serviceable clothes for herself and Harrison that were stylish but not frivolous, well made and obviously expensive, but never flashy or ostentatious. She bought good food, healthy and organic ingredients, but was never so snotty and snobbish about her meals that she refused to order in a pizza now and again.

She bought toys for Harrison that were designed to expand his imagination, not fill up a toy box and gather dust – Lego was a huge favorite of hers to encourage imaginative play, for example. She'd bought him a play kitchen with all the trimmings, wanting to press the idea that it wasn't only women who cooked. She'd bought a large collection of dress up clothes, but hadn't limited him to super heroes and pirates and sports stars – she'd included the odd fairy princess dress, tiara, and sparkling magic wand. As a child, Emily had felt pressure to be the daughter her mother wanted her to be. She wanted Harrison to understand that if he woke up in the morning and wanted to be Spiderman that was okay – but if he wanted to be Cinderella that was just as okay with her.

She bought gifts for JJ, but her engagement ring had been the only truly expensive present. She stuck to things like flowers, cupcakes, and small tokens that reminded them both of conversations they'd had, or jokes they had shared.

Because of all of this, JJ had put the fact that Emily was wealthy mostly out of her mind. And now, sitting across from Emily in what had to be one of the most expensive, exclusive restaurants in DC, it was all coming back to her.

"Am I dressed okay?" she asked self-consciously, casting a worried glance down at her simple blue dress. It hit her at the knee, so she wasn't worried about modesty, but she knew a single appetizer here likely cost more than she had spent on the dress.

"You're easily the most beautiful woman in the city," Emily said reassuringly. "Look, what you have to know about this place, is that it's off the beaten track. There's no glitz or glamor. We're not going to make the tabloids just by being seen here, because this is one of DC's best kept secrets. Having money isn't enough to get you through the door. So no one is judging you, baby. We're far too classy to judge. It's invitation only, and to get an invite you have to… well, not be an asshole."

JJ stifled a burst of scandalized giggles. "Emily! Can you say that in here?"

Emily shrugged. "Considering that I went to college with the chef, and put up half the capital to get this place started… yeah, I can pretty much say what I want and do what I want, with who I want, in here." It was her turn to look self-conscious as JJ's eyes widened.

"You never told me you owned a restaurant!"

"I don't own a restaurant," Emily insisted. "I just… my friend wanted to open a place, I had her cook for me a couple of times, and I thought she'd be a good investment. Now, ten years later, she's successful enough to be this exclusive. I'm completely hands off. I get sent a check every quarter for my percentage of the profit, and I get a table here whenever I want one."

The waitress came over to take their order as soon as she sensed a lull in their conversation. "What's good here?" JJ asked, and Emily grinned.

"Everything here is amazing," she said. "But… you should have the lobster, if you have no issues with shellfish. It is ridiculous how good it is."

JJ bit her lip and scanned the menu. The prices were listed, and the lobster was… way out of her price range. She looked up at Emily guiltily.

"Can you give us a minute?" Emily asked the waitress, who nodded and seemed to… melt out of view. "JJ… we were going to have to have this conversation sooner or later. I guess it's just happening now."

"I can't justify asking you to spend that much on one meal for me," JJ hissed. "I know you've got money, but I don't want to be the girl who goes on a date, picks the most expensive thing on the menu, and then expects you to pay for it. That's not my style. I can just… have a salad. The Caesar looks good, and you can never go wrong with Caesar salad." The salad's price still made her wince, but at least it didn't send her careening towards cardiac arrest like the lobster did.

Emily was squirming uncomfortably, and leaned closer so that she could lower her voice. "Jay, do you have any idea how much I'm worth?" she said quietly. "I wasn't going to give you a dollar amount, because advertising the fact that I'm loaded isn't MY style. But honestly, we could quit our jobs tomorrow, eat lobster here every night, put Harry through college twelve times over, vacation in San Trope every other month and I'd STILL have enough to buy you a Ferrari in every color of the rainbow."

JJ's jaw dropped. "Come off it, Emily. You're exaggerating," she said shortly.

"That's the really upsetting thing," Emily said, dropping her head into her hands. "I'm not. My mother's an ambassador and my father… he's in finance. Without going into detail, he's like a modern day Midas. Whatever he touches turns to gold. He's taken every penny of my mother's not inconsiderable earnings, and increased them a thousand times over."

"I… am not comfortable with… getting comfortable with that," JJ said slowly, letting out a breath. "I've always worked for a living. I've always cooked for myself, cleaned for myself… I wanted to teach Harry to do the same things."

"I absolutely agree!" Emily said quickly. "I escaped all of that… privilege as soon as I possibly could. I cook, and I clean, and I think you can agree that I work damn hard. The money is just… there, in the background. It's there, and sometimes it's nice to have nice things, but I don't depend on it, and I don't expect you to become some… kept woman." She smiled weakly. "It's one of the things I fell in love with. You wanted me long before you knew about the money, and now that you do know? You're trying to convince me not to spend any of it on you. That's how I know I can trust you, and that you have a good heart."

JJ smiled. "You know, we could blow this joint and just hit up a McDonalds," she suggested, only half joking.

"Jennifer, will you please just let me buy you the damn lobster?" Emily said, exasperated. "God, as much as you don't want to rely on the money, sometimes it'd be nice to just… be allowed to spoil the woman I love."

For a long moment, they sat, staring each other down. JJ didn't want to give in. She didn't want there to be any suspicion that she was a gold digger or that she was just after Emily for the perks. But she had a point. She hadn't known about any of this until right now. Her motives were unassailable, and…

"I do really love lobster," she said quietly. She looked like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and Emily let out a peal of laughter, the tension completely broken.

Gesturing for the waitress to come back, Emily ordered the lobster for JJ and the sole for herself. "Look… now that you know, it doesn't mean I'm going to start shoving my cash in your face all the time," she said delicately. "I know it makes you uncomfortable. Hell, it makes ME uncomfortable. It's just that once every now and again, I'm gonna wanna buy you something pretty, or something tasty, and maybe it'll cost a little more than you're used to… but I'm not doing it to make you feel inadequate. I'm doing it because I genuinely think you'll like whatever it is, and I love making you smile."

"I think I get it," JJ replied. "As long as you understand that, as much as I love lobster, I'm just as happy with a Big Mac. And as much as I love the few pieces of jewelry you've bought me, I'd be satisfied if you just sat down with Harry's crayons and drew me something by hand. I'm about the thought, not the price tag."

Emily smiled, and they gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment, before JJ's expression turned serious. "I don't ever want to know a dollar amount," she said firmly. "Please, spoil me if you must, but don't ever tell me exactly much you have squirreled away. I don't want to put a price on you. I don't want to risk mentally spending it. I don't… I don't want to ruin what we have by discovering some previously unknown mercenary tendencies in me."

Despite her snickers, Emily nodded. "Okay. It's a deal. Now, stop talking, and eat the damn lobster."

JJ thanked the waitress and took a forkful of the food, chewing for a moment before a loud moan escaped her. "Oh sweet Jesus, that's better than sex," she blurted, and then turned red.

Emily pretended to be offended by the comment, and JJ played along, leaning in for her next remark. "Well, it's better than all the sex I had before you, that is," she murmured, running her foot up Emily's calf for good measure.

"That was a good save, darling," Emily drawled, tucking in to her own meal.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer. 
> 
> For everyone who thinks they're moving super fast - remember, with their jobs, they know better than most how short life can be. I wouldn't want to waste time if I were them, not if I were so sure that I'd found The One!

The rest of dinner went by without incident, and before too long they were back home, kicking off their shoes and dropping their purses on the counter. "So what's this big surprise?" JJ asked curiously, sitting down on the couch.

Emily smiled enigmatically. "You'll find out. Stay down here while I set it up," she said cryptically, and took the stairs two at a time to get things ready. It didn't take much preparation. A towel down on the bed, the lotion at the ready and a chair in front of the bathroom sink… Finally she called JJ to come up.

"I… don't get it," she said, confused.

"Take off your clothes, and lie down," Emily commanded softly. "I want you face down on the towel."

"Is this a sex thing?" JJ asked, but she did as she was told, a little thrill running through her.

"No, this is a 'you will never know how much I love you, but I'll do my best to convey it' thing," Emily said. She warmed the lotion in her hands, but instead of starting with JJ's neck, she started right down at the younger woman's toes.

"I have plans," Emily went on. "My plans are to spoil you, not with money, but with my hands, with my time, and with my love. I… grew up with staff, and while I don't want to focus on that, let's just say I learned to cook from the chef, I learned to clean from the maids, and I learned to do this from the masseuse. We had a hair stylist as well… let's just say, just about anything you can have done at a day spa, I can do right here in our home. And I want to pamper you."

As she spoke she had slowly and thoroughly worked her way from JJ's toes, to her feet, to her calves. JJ let out a contented sigh, relaxing as Emily tipped more lotion on her. So that was the reason for the towel, she thought to herself. "This really isn't fair," she slurred. "You're… so perfect, and I feel like I don't have anything to offer."

Emily paused. "I'm far from perfect, JJ," she said flatly. Her hands worked up past JJ's knees, massaging her thighs until the muscles were loose and pliant, but bypassing any areas which would turn this from romantic to sexual. "There's a reason no one's ever seen me as more than just a one night stand."

As relaxed as the sensations were making JJ feel, the conversation was one she desperately wanted to stay awake for. "I think that you've had bad luck," she said carefully. "The people – the men – that you've deemed worthy of your time have been stupid. You opened yourself up time and time again, and you got burned. That sucks, but it's not your fault, and I honestly don't think it's anything you're doing."

"Maybe they could sense that I'm a big old lesbian," Emily joked self-deprecatingly.

"Are you?" JJ asked curiously. Emily's hands were kneading her backside, working muscles JJ probably wouldn't have thought to have massaged until now. She moaned slightly, but kept her focus.

"I don't know." Emily shrugged. "I never loved a woman before you, and now that we're together, I know I'm never gonna love anyone else, so who knows? Maybe I'm a lesbian. Maybe you're the only girl in the world who could have turned me. We'll never know." Finally, she reached JJ's back, working on the familiar kinks at the base of her spine.

JJ felt like she couldn't move her legs. She was too comfortable, too loose and liquid, and frankly she had no desire to ever move from this position. "Back to the point… you don't still think I'm going to get sick of you and walk out, do you?" she asked gently. "I mean… you know I can't. I love you too much. I need you too much."

"I think that intellectually, and in my heart, I know you're here for keeps," Emily whispered. "But deep inside me there's still a weak, scared little thing who keeps telling me this is too good to be true. And every morning I wake up and look in your eyes that weak, scared thing gets a little smaller. And every time we make love that weak, scared thing gets a little smaller again. But it's still there, and it's going to take a long time to disappear completely."

JJ nodded. "What can I do to help?" she asked.

"Just… be with me." Taking her time, Emily finished up the massage, working all the way up to JJ's neck before massaging each of JJ's arms, ending with her hands and fingers. She let her cool down for five minutes before she got the next stage of pampering ready, then came back. "Come on, pretty girl," she cooed, helping JJ up and wrapping her in a clean towel. "Come and sit in the chair."

Once JJ was in the chair, Emily gently tipped her back and began running warm water over JJ's hair. She took the time to massage JJ's scalp with her fingertips while working the thick lather through the long blond strands, and for a while there was no sound except Emily's gentle breathing, and JJ's soft moans of contentment. "So I'm the only person you've ever done this with before," she said at length.

"You're the only one who's stuck around long enough to let me," Emily deflected, blushing.

"No, I'm the only one who you cared enough to offer it to," JJ corrected her. "If they'd known what they were missing… well, I'm glad they were too stupid to know. Their loss is my immeasurable gain."

Rinsing JJ's hair, Emily began working the conditioning treatment through. "Your hair is gonna be so shiny it blinds people," she teased, and JJ grinned, eyes closed. "I hadn't even thought that far ahead. I'm still stuck on how good this feels."

After the conditioner had been left to work, and then rinsed out, Emily helped JJ sit upright and began to blow her hair dry, shaping it into soft waves with a fat rounded brush as she did so. Completely blissed out by all this attention and pampering, JJ let herself drift off. She didn't wake when the hair dryer clicked off, but her eyes fluttered open at the touch of Emily's lips.

"You're so beautiful it hurts a little," Emily said softly.

"Mmm, so are you." JJ kissed her back. "I can't wait until I'm Mrs. Prentiss."

"You wanna take my name?" Emily asked, surprised. "But… then you won't be JJ anymore, you'll be JP."

JJ laughed. "Emily… my middle name is Joy," she said, with a "duh" tone in her voice. "I'm always going to be JJ, and now I get to be JJ Prentiss. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's okay," Emily said, eyes filling with tears. "It's the best thing I ever heard. Now you can't say you have nothing to offer me, Jay… you've offered your love."

She led JJ through to the bedroom and helped her into bed, where they fell into their usual position, wrapped around each other. "This is nice," JJ sighed, sinking into Emily's embrace. "This is the best I've ever felt."

"Is it weird that I miss Harry?" Emily asked after a while. "I mean… don't get me wrong. Spending time with you is wonderful, and I wouldn't trade it for anything, because I love you. But…"

"But you're a mom now," JJ laughed. "And you miss your little boy. It's okay. I miss him too." She sighed. "Can I ask you something? Had you ever thought about having kids, before him? You're so good with him, it's like… it's like you were made to be his mother. But if he hadn't happened… do you think you would have had kids?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. I mean… unless I got knocked up from a one night stand, there wasn't much chance of it happening. Did I want to be a mother? Yes, absolutely, ever since…" JJ didn't know about Italy, and today wasn't the day to tell her. "Ever since I was a teenager, I've thought about becoming a mother someday. But men didn't see me as the 'mother of their children' type, and now I'm in love with a woman, so I guess Harrison's it for me."

JJ shifted, making sure she was looking Emily in the eye for her next words. "What if… he didn't have to be?" she said carefully.

"What are you saying?" Emily asked, confused.

"We… you and me, we could have a baby," JJ whispered. "I see how you are with him, and I love it, so much. And I've always in the back of my mind wanted a big family. And it might be nice for Harry to have a brother or a sister. And Garcia's pregnant, and it's been making me feel kind of clucky… not that I don't love Harrison to pieces, but I've been thinking about babies…"

"Wow… JJ, that is… a lot to think about," Emily said slowly. "It would mean one of us quitting work, or else hiring full time help, and I know you don't want to use my money if we can help it. And would it be you, or me who… carries the baby? I'd like to, but I don't know if I can. I'm getting older, you know? And I wouldn't ever ask you to do that for me. I don't want to use you as a baby making machine. And is this place even big enough for more kids? I suppose we could get Harry a smaller bed, or bunk beds. And will we be allowed to adopt if we've got a baby in the house, or if I'm pregnant, or if you are? And…"

"Slow down!" JJ giggled, feeling a little giddy. "Emily… all the things you're saying, I'm hearing a lot of 'how can we do this' and not 'should we do this'. Are you saying yes? Do you want to have a baby with me?"

The thought honestly had not crossed Emily's mind until the moment this conversation had begun, but now that it had, it had taken root in her brain and in her heart in a way she knew wasn't going to go away. She bit her lip, and then nodded fervently. "Yeah, I wanna have a baby with you," she said, her voice choked with emotion. "Now right now, but in a few months, maybe, and if I go first, then maybe a year or two after that, you could…"

JJ grinned. "The answer is yes, Emily. Let's… give ourselves a few more months to settle into being moms to Harrison, and then we can think about making babies together."

Wiping her eyes, Emily kissed JJ hard. "I guess this means we really are lesbians," she joked through her happy tears. "Only, we progressed past the U-Haul and moved right on to marriage and babies."

"Well, why wait years, when we know everything is perfect?" JJ said sensibly. "And who knows better than us how short life is?"


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

At six months pregnant, Garcia was well and truly showing. Her flirtation with Morgan hadn’t abated, and he delighted in feeling the baby kick.  
  
“When you gonna tell me what you’re having, momma?” he asked her one day as they sat down to lunch. Garcia cast a glance over at Hotch, sitting at another table nearby and grinning at her, and smiled back.  
  
“Well, Hotch doesn’t want to know until the baby is born, so I’m going to have to keep it to myself… I wouldn’t want to spoil his surprise. I can tell you that I’ve started thinking about names. I’ve been thinking about names that start with P, like Penelope. And I like the mythological connection. Penelope was a dryad, you know. She was the mother of Pan. So I was thinking maybe something from Roman or Greek mythology… but then, I don’t want to be cruel.” She laughed. “Wait until you start having babies, my chocolate god. Picking out the perfect name is HARD.”  
  
Morgan laughed at her. “I think I’m gonna start taking bets on what this baby’s gonna be.” He stood and leaned down to kiss Garcia on the cheek, whispering in her ear so that Hotch couldn’t, “My money’s on ‘girl’.”  
  
It took every ounce of self-control Garcia had not to react.  
  


* * *

Harrison’s favorite lunch was tomato, ham and cheese sandwiches with just a smear of mayo. He liked to drink milk. He liked yogurt covered raisins and sprouts as snacks. Emily hummed to herself as she packed his lunch for preschool and smiled fondly. Somehow, she had lucked out and ended up with a son who actually liked eating healthy food.  
  
“Now you understand that we’re both going to work today, right?” JJ was saying to Harrison as she tied his tie - yes, his tie. Harrison had got it into his head that he wanted to wear a tie with his shirt and sweater vest today, and neither Emily nor JJ could think of a single reason why he shouldn’t be allowed to. She grabbed a comb and parted his hair on the left, combing the rest of his dark hair to the side and leaning in to give him a big smooch on the cheek. “You are gorgeous, Mr. Harry, and you’re going to make all the little girls fall in love with you today.”  
  
“Ew, girls are gross!” he shrieked, giggling. JJ feigned hurt feelings and pretended to start to cry. Emily, hearing this exchange, came out of the kitchen and joined in the game.  
  
“You don’t like girls?” she asked, pulling JJ into a hug. JJ pretended to sob into her shoulder, but she was hiding a grin. “But I’m a girl, and Mama’s a girl. Don’t you like us anymore?”  
  
Harrison held up his arms until Emily picked him up, then he gently stroked JJ’s hair. “Don’t cry, Mama. I still love you, even if you’re a girl.” He kissed her cheek and JJ burst, cracking up laughing and seizing him to tickle him.  
  
“And we love you, you goofball,” she roared playfully, tossing him on the couch as he squealed with laughter. “Now go find your shoes, or we’ll be late.”  
  
In the car Emily broached the subject of separation with him again. “Mama’s coming back to work today,” she said. “So you’re going to be at preschool with Jack until the end of the day, and then you’re going to go home with Jack and his mommy, and one of us will come and get you. Do you understand?”  
  
Harrison nodded. “What if Andrew is mean to me again?” he asked fearfully. Ever since the panic attack incident, Harrison had been incredibly wary of the bigger boy.  
  
“Then you stand up straight, and you walk over to Sarah or one of the other teachers, and you tell them that Andrew is being naughty,” Emily said firmly. “But we have to go and catch the bad guys today, so we need you to be a brave boy and go to school. Can you do that?”  
  
Again, Harrison nodded. He looked scared, but determined. And though he hugged each of them extra tightly before letting them go, Emily and JJ were able to leave without incident.  
  
Surprisingly, it was Emily who cried in the car. JJ was torn between laughing at her and comforting her. “Do you wanna talk about it?” she asked finally.  
  
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me being a normal, paranoid mother, but I’m terrified about leaving him,” Emily sniffled, pulling a tissue out of her pocket and dabbing at her eyes. “He’s so little.”  
  
“But this is hardly the first time you’ve left him there,” JJ said, confused.  
  
“Jay, all the other times I’ve left him there, I’ve left him there with YOU,” Emily explained. “But now you’re here with me, and he’s all alone, and what if he can’t handle it?”  
  
“He’s going to be fine,” JJ promised, sending up a quick prayer that it would be so. “He’ll spend all day playing, and then Hayley will pick the boys up, and we’ll go pick him up for dinner. And then once you see that it’s fine, we’ll do it all again tomorrow. Life is happening to us, baby. It’s moving on, and changing in good ways.”  
  
They pulled up outside the FBI building and Emily let out a shuddering breath. “We can do this,” she said firmly.  
  
“So what have I missed while I’ve been away?” JJ asked, as they walked into the building hand in hand, only letting go once they walked through the front entrance. “And I don’t mean the cases. I’m sure Hotch will fill me in on the official stuff. I mean the gossip. Who’s dating who? Are there any new faces? Tell me everything.”  
  
“Uh, well, Garcia’s showing, but you know that, you saw her on Saturday,” Emily laughed, glad to have the subject changed. “And you know the way she and Morgan act - so there have been a couple of junior agents who assumed the baby was his. I thought Hotch would blow a fuse, but he just laughed. He actually laughed!” Emily smiled at the memory. “And Garcia was right, you know. He really does have a sexy laugh.”  
  
JJ swatted her arm. “Is his laugh sexier than mine?” she demanded playfully. They boarded the elevator, hitting the button for their floor.  
  
“Baby, you know no one is sexier than you,” Emily murmured. She leaned in and kissed JJ, pressing her up against the wall of the elevator and deepening their embrace until the bell rang and the doors opened, forcing her to pull away. JJ stood for a moment, slightly dazed at the unexpected kiss, before gathering her mental faculties enough to get off the elevator.  
  
They walked through the bull pen and JJ turned to head up to her office. “Hey, who’s that guy?” she asked, discreetly pointing to an unfamiliar man sitting a couple of desks away from the cluster where Morgan, Reid and Emily say.  
  
“That is Special Agent Denny Bartlett. He transferred from the St. Louis field office, and by all accounts came very highly recommended,” Emily said. JJ looked the man over. He was definitely attractive. Despite the fact that he was sitting down, he was obviously tall. He was broad shouldered, with big green eyes and sandy brown hair. He had a boyish face, with a charming smile. JJ’s best description of him would be that he was ‘pretty’, and she whispered this to Emily with a giggle.  
  
“Most of the women on the floor agree with you,” Emily smirked. “And probably most of the women from the floor above and below probably agree with you too, if they’ve seen him.” Suddenly she frowned. “Jay… Are you actually attracted to him?”  
  
Mindful of the need to be discreet, JJ brushed her hand over Emily’s arm. “I’m marrying you,” she said softly. “I’m not gonna stand here and pretend I don’t have eyes - he is a very attractive man. But I’m in love with the most beautiful woman in the world. I have no intention of straying, understand?”  
  
Nodding, Emily sat down at her desk with a small smile. “I might understand better if you buy me lunch later,” she said quietly, her eyes twinkling.  
  
“It’s a date,” JJ promised, heading up to her office. On the way up she stopped and introduced herself to the new agent - as media liaison, it was her job to know the ins and outs of everything and everyone in and around the BAU. “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Jennifer Jareau, but everyone calls me JJ. I’m the BAU’s media liaison.” She held out her hand for him to shake, and he rose from his seat and took her hand in his, flashing a smile that was in danger of making her knees tremble. This man wasn’t just attractive. He was dangerously gorgeous.  
  
“I’m Denny Bartlett, but my friends call me DB,” he introduced himself with a chuckle. “Looks like you and I have something in common, Miss JJ: people are too damn lazy to remember our whole names.”  
  
JJ grinned at him, barely noticing that her hand was still in his. “I always thought it was because I’m blond, and my parents didn’t harbor too much in the way of expectations for my intelligence - it’s just about impossible to misspell JJ, you know.” She winked at him, and he laughed, a deep, melodious laugh.  
  
“I’m sure that’s not true. I mean, you’re managing to walk and talk at the same time, so that speaks highly of your intelligence… in fact…” He reached out and gently lifted a couple of strands of her hair playfully. “Are you sure this isn’t a wig, and underneath it all you’re not a super smart brunette?”  
  
It was JJ’s turn to laugh. “Nope, this is all natural,” she assured him.  
  
“Well then, you are a very beautiful woman,” he said softly, finally releasing her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss JJ.”  
  
“It’s nice to meet you too, Agent Bartlett,” JJ said, aware of how intimate their introduction had become. She knew without looking that Emily was boring holes in her back with her gaze.  
  
“Please, call me DB,” Bartlett said. “All my friends call me DB, and I’m hoping I can count you among them.”  
  
“Welcome to Quantico, DB,” JJ said before escaping to her office.


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

Emily sat fuming. Bartlett had pulled the same charming routine on her, his first day in the office, but she had told him almost immediately that she was involved with someone, and he had backed off. After that he had been cordial, polite, but maintained a professional distance, just as she wanted.  
  
It figured that he would be a serial flirt. It also figured that as soon as her breathtakingly beautiful blond fiancé walked into the bullpen, he’d be all over her like a cheap suit. What was disconcerting to her was that JJ hadn’t shut him down. Emily had honestly thought that Bartlett wouldn’t even make an impression on her, after watching the way she had turned Elle down flat initially, but JJ had stood there and actually flirted with him.  
  
It was enough to make her sick.  
  
Lunch was in twenty minutes, and JJ was supposed to come down and buy her lunch, but somehow Emily couldn’t bring herself to stay. “Hey Morgan, can you cover for me?” she asked quietly. “I’m gonna take my lunch hour and run over to Happy Valley, and see how Harry’s doing.” She didn’t mention that she had plans with JJ, just waited for his nod and dashed out of the bull pen.  
  
True to her word, she did drive to the preschool, but she didn’t go in further than the front desk. She asked for Sarah, and Sarah gave her a rundown of Harrison’s completely successful morning, and then Emily was left with nothing to do but sit in her car and worry.  
  
She’d known from the start that this whole thing with JJ was too good to be true. It explained so much, why JJ had been able to turn Elle down so easily, and the fact that she had flirted shamelessly with Bartlett - JJ just wasn’t gay. Emily had been a nice way to spend six months, but JJ was ultimately straight. She wanted babies, for goodness sake, and Bartlett was certainly a superlative male specimen with which to achieve that goal. Choking back a sob, Emily let her head rest on the steering wheel. JJ would leave her now. It was inevitable. Just like all the others, JJ would realize Emily was replaceable, disposable, and not worth keeping around for the long haul.  
  
JJ might not gather her clothes and sneak out in the wee hours of the morning, but she would leave, and there was nothing Emily could do to stop it, not now that JJ had met this beautiful man and they had hit it off so well.  
  
She was late back from lunch, and in no mood to face the third degree that would come when her coworkers saw her tear streaked face. She did her best to sneak in and get to the bathroom to compose herself before anyone saw her, but JJ was too sharp for her and entered the bathroom moments after Emily did.  
  
“You stood me up,” she said in a wounded voice. Her face was the picture of confused hurt. “Morgan said you went to see Harry - we could have gone together, Em. I would have gone with you.”  
  
“Maybe I wanted to get used to dealing with him by myself,” Emily said bitterly. “Look, just… Hotch stuck his neck out for us to be allowed to fraternize and not get fired or transferred. If you’re going to break up with me, can you at least wait until we get home so the whole FBI doesn’t get to see me cry?”  
  
JJ was shocked. “What are you talking about?” she choked. “I don’t want to break up with you.” She paused a moment, then her own eyes filled with tears. “Do you want to break up with me?”  
  
Emily sighed. “No, of course I don’t, but I saw you, Jennifer.” She scowled. “You and that pretty boy, flirting and carrying on. It’s pretty obvious that he’s more your type. He has a…” Emily gestured to her pelvis and sighed. “It’s okay. I get it. It was nice while it lasted, but I never expected you to want more than a night with me. Lucky me, I got six whole months before you came to your senses. I’m not going to force you to stay with me if you’re not happy.”  
  
JJ’s expression was now angry, and she grabbed Emily by the shoulders and pushed her back against the sinks. “Do you really think that little of me? A guy flirts with me for two minutes, and you think I want to throw away the love of my life and our son, all for the sake of a penis?” She wanted to shake Emily, knock some sense into her, but at the same time she knew that Emily was coming from a lifetime of being hurt and let down. It hadn’t been easy for her to trust JJ, and it wasn’t hard to see why she was retreating now. “I told you. He’s attractive. If I said otherwise, I’d be lying, and I don’t ever want to lie to you. But he is not who I want to come home to at night. He’s not who I want in my bed, and he’s not who I want to raise my children with. The only person I want to do all those things with is you, Emily.”  
  
She looked into Emily’s eyes and saw fear, anguish, and acceptance there - and the fact that she could see it at all spoke volumes. Emily had lost the ability to compartmentalize with JJ. She had given up. She had accepted JJ’s betrayal as inevitable, but there was no denying how much it was hurting her. “Baby… I love you,” JJ whispered. “I told you, the first time we made love, that I’m always going to want you. I didn’t lie then and I’m not lying now. I want you forever.” She kissed Emily’s lips gently. “Please believe me.”  
  
Emily sucked in a breath. “I want to.”  
  
JJ kissed her cheeks gently. “We have to go back out there, and finish up this day. We have to be professional, like you said, because Hotch really did go out on a limb for us. But tonight, we’re going to leave together, and we’re going to pick up our son, and we’re going to go home and be a family.”  
  
“What about Bartlett?”  
  
“Emily, I’m the unit’s liaison. It’s my job to make nice. That doesn’t mean I want to fall into bed with every guy I make nice with. Remember the detective in New Orleans, that droopy eyed idiot with the horrific accent who drank like a fish and smelled like a wet dog? I made nice with him, and I gave him my card, but nothing came of it.” She smirked. “Not for lack of trying on his part, but by that time, you were all I could think about.” She pulled Emily into a tight hug. “There are always times when doing my job is going to mean greasing wheels, playing the politics game, and even flirting to get results. It doesn’t mean I ever want to come home to anyone but you.”  
  
Emily sighed into JJ’s neck. “I’m sorry I got a little crazy,” she whispered. “I just… saw the way you were talking to him and I suddenly had this horrible feeling that I was going to lose you… and I don’t think I can. You… ruined me.” She gave a rueful laugh. “I’ll never love anyone the way I love you.”  
  
“You’ll never have to. DB - Bartlett - is just another agent.”  
  
By the time they went back out into the bullpen, they’d been gone at least ten minutes. They split up, Emily sitting down at her desk and burying her face in a file before Morgan could ask her any questions, and JJ walking up the few stairs to go to her office. DB stopped her with that smile of his. “Is everything okay, Miss JJ?” he asked. “You seem a little tense.”  
  
“Now’s not a good time, Bartlett,” JJ said shortly, casting a cautious eye in Emily’s direction. Her use of his surname, instead of the nickname he had asked her to use, was designed to put distance between them, and both of them knew it. “I’ve got a lot of paperwork to catch up on after my leave and I really need to get back to it.”  
  
“Did Prentiss say something to upset you? I can talk to her if you want. She’s kind of a cold fish, I know. I tried talking to her a couple of times when I first got here. She barely let me get three words out before she was barking at me that she was seeing someone. Like, seriously, how arrogant can you be? I guess she just has a super high opinion of herself.” He winked at her, and flashed his charming smile again.  
  
If he was trying to score points by pointing out the flaws he perceived in their fellow agents, as if he and JJ were two co-conspirators, he was failing miserably. She frowned. “How long have you been working here, a couple of weeks? I don’t know how they did things in St. Louis but here in Quantico, we don’t profile each other, and we certainly don’t stab each other in the back. For the record, you couldn’t be more wrong about Emily, but if you came at her the same way you came at me, then it isn’t arrogance that made her shoot you down. It’s fidelity.” She turned away from him. “And if you want to keep working at Quantico, I suggest you spend less time hitting on every woman who crosses your path, and more time doing your work.”  
  
With her back turned, she didn’t see the ugly scowl that crossed Bartlett’s face. It was gone as quick as it came, but there was no mistaking what he muttered next. “There are two decent looking women on this floor, and both of them are frigid, stuck up bitches - just my luck.”  
  
JJ spun around again, giving him her frostiest media smile. “That’s one, Bartlett. Two gets you written up for sexual harassment. I wouldn’t suggest going for three - remember, all the ‘frigid, stuck up bitches’ on this floor are armed, trained and dangerous.” She changed direction, heading for Hotch’s office instead of her own, intending to inform their chief of what had just transpired. She heard Bartlett curse under his breath behind her and smiled grimly. Emily had nothing to worry about. Behind the easy smile and charming words lay a World Series jackass, and JJ wasn’t interested in the slightest.


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

JJ knew that it would be a long time before Emily could fully trust that their relationship wasn’t just going to disappear into thin air, but she also knew that no amount of verbal reassurance was going to help matters. All she could do was show Emily every day how much she loved her, with her actions and with her emotions. After a while a thought occurred to her. Emily’s mother knew about their relationship, and had been making an effort to be part of their lives, and to be a grandmother to Harrison. Emily was in this one hundred percent. But JJ still hadn’t told her own family anything.  
  
It had crossed her mind once or twice when she had first started dating Emily, and honestly, all it would have been so simple to just pick up the phone and call her parents. “Mom, Dad, I’m gay” would have been it took. But when she had thought about it, she hadn’t wanted to do it over the phone, and then the case in Tennessee had happened and they had wound up with Harrison. He had been very effective at taking up her time and attention.  
  
“We should go back to East Allegheny so you can meet my parents,” she said finally, while they were doing the dishes one night. Harrison was helping them - JJ hadn’t been kidding about wanting to instill a good work ethic in him as soon as possible.  
  
“Are we going to see your mommies, Mama?” Harrison asked, carefully drying the fork in his hand and setting it in its place in the cutlery drawer. His job was to dry and put away the cutlery - except the knives, which he wasn’t allowed to pick up.  
  
“I don’t have two mommies,” JJ said casually. “I have a mom and a dad.”  
  
Harrison frowned. “The bad man said he was my daddy,” he said doubtfully.  
  
“Well, my daddy isn’t a bad man. He’s nice. He’s big and tall and strong and he likes to build things,” JJ said firmly.  
  
Emily finally set down the plate she was had been drying and looked at JJ. “You really want to take me to meet your parents?” she asked, looking just as doubtful as Harrison had. JJ could understand his hesitation, but she was confused by Emily’s.  
  
“Yes, I think it’s about time they met the woman I’m going to marry and the child we plan to raise together,” she said. “Do you not want to meet them?”  
  
“I thought maybe you didn’t want me to meet them,” Emily said. “It’s been six months and you’ve never even brought them up - and my mother, my distant, frosty, emotionally retarded mother is here all the time playing Grandma, so I figured you just didn’t want them to meet me.”  
  
“It’s complicated,” JJ sighed. “My parents are decidedly small town. My dad works in the hardware store, and my mom is a homemaker. They’ve never really understood why I wasn’t able to settle down with a nice boy to create a cookie-cutter next generation, but after…” She closed her eyes for a moment. “After what happened to my sister, I knew I couldn’t stay there. I couldn’t live in that town for the rest of my life, no matter how happy my parents were. And they REALLY don’t understand the FBI. Guns and fighting and catching criminals and all of that, that’s for boys. Girls should be cooking and cleaning and baking, for when the men come home after catching the criminals.”  
  
“Mama, that’s silly,” Harrison said dismissively. “Girls can do anything. It doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl, you can be anything in the world if you work hard - Mommy told me that, and Mommy’s the smartest person I know.” Emily beamed at him.  
  
“Just for that, you get ice cream,” she declared, laughing as he cheered. “Finish the forks first though please.”  
  
JJ smiled sadly at the two of them. They lived in a world of possibilities - Emily fought tooth and nail to be taken seriously and to be given every opportunity available to her. Harrison was just beginning to comprehend that the people around him had feelings too, and he was growing up amongst a generation that was constantly spoon fed political correctness and positive affirmations. To him, being told that girls can do anything was as simple as saying that the sky was blue. For JJ, it went against everything she’d been brought up with.  


* * *

  
Less than two weeks later JJ had managed to get them both two days off, and they were in the car, zooming towards something that JJ still really wasn’t sure she wanted to do. She wasn’t ashamed of Emily - far from it - but she had a sinking feeling that her parents weren’t going to be as blindly accepting as Harrison was.  
  
And god, Harrison was another issue all together. Could her mother love a grandchild who wasn’t born of JJ’s flesh, conceived by JJ and the man she was married to?  
  
They pulled up outside JJ’s parents’ house just as the sun was setting. Harrison was fidgety and sore from having fallen asleep in the car, so Emily carefully picked him up, carrying him to the front porch with JJ at her side. “Look, whatever happens in here… I love you, and that isn’t going to change,” JJ said softly. Emily nodded, but JJ could see the fear in the tense way she held her shoulders.  
  
“Let’s just do this nice and easy,” JJ said. “Let me tell them. I’ll tell them in stages. You’re Emily, and we work together. You’re Harry’s mom.”  
  
“So are you, Mama,” Harrison mumbled sleepily with his face squashed against Emily’s shoulder.  
  
“I know, but just for now, I have to go slow when I tell my mom and dad about you,” JJ said awkwardly. “They don’t know how amazing and wonderful you are, and I want them to know you before I tell them the big long story of how you came to be ours.”  
  
She reached out and rang the doorbell, letting out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. She wanted so badly to reach for Emily’s hand, but she didn’t want that to be the first thing her parents saw when they opened the door.  
  
It was JJ’s father who answered the door and it took him a moment to comprehend who was standing on his doorstep, before his handsome face lit up. “Jenny!” he exclaimed, reaching out and pulling her into a tight hug. She sank into his embrace, feeling like she was fourteen years old again. “What brings you all the way home?”  
  
“I came to introduce you to some people who are very important to me,” JJ said carefully, and Jeffrey Jareau looked over his daughter’s shoulder to see the other woman standing there, holding the little boy.  
  
“Well, well, well, who do we have here?” he asked in a jovial voice.  
  
“Emily Prentiss, I work with JJ,” Emily said, holding her hand out for him to shake. He took it, and then leaned down to Harrison’s level.  
  
“And who’s this?” he asked kindly. Harrison shrank back, but Emily stroked his back and he remained mostly calm.  
  
“This is… my son,” Emily said awkwardly. “Sorry, he’s just a little tired from the drive.”  
  
“Mommy, I need to go to the bathroom,” Harrison announced. JJ sprang into action.  
  
“I’ll take him,” she said swiftly, taking him from Emily’s arms. “I’ll meet you back in the living room?”  
  
It was a nice house, Emily reflected as she followed Jeff through to the living room and took a seat on the couch. The décor was unabashedly outdated, but everything was clean and well presented, and she could just imagine a much younger JJ sitting down to breakfast at the round table, and sprawling on this very couch to watch TV.  
  
“So, Emily, what is it that you do for the FBI?” Jeff asked politely while they waited for JJ to return. “Our Jenny doesn’t tell us much, but we do see her on the news here and there. It’s not the career we would have imagined for her, but it’s nice that she’s making good use of that pretty face of hers, don’t you think?”  
  
A hundred retorts sprang to Emily’s lips and she managed to squash all of them. “JJ is very talented at what she does. I know I couldn’t deal with the media with the tact and empathy she possesses. You should be very proud of her,” she said carefully. “And on top of that, she’s as smart as a whip. There have been a lot of cases that have broken because of her insights.” She paused, considering how to describe her own role. “As for me… I’m a profiler. My job is to get inside the heads of the criminals we pursue, and figure out what their motivations are, in the hopes that we can get out in front of them and stop them from hurting anyone else.”  
  
Jeffrey frowned slightly, but remained polite. “It seems like you all are a very smart bunch of people. How does your husband feel about the work you do? And about you bringing your little boy all the way out here, without him?”  
  
“I’m not married, sir.” She hid her frown, grateful that she could hear JJ and Harrison approaching. Harrison made a beeline for her and scrambled into her lap, and JJ sat down next to her.  
  
“Dad, where’s Mom? I want her to meet Emily and Harrison,” JJ said.  
  
“Hey mister, where are the things you make?” Harrison said suddenly, surprising both women. Neither had expected him to address JJ’s father directly, at least not right away. “Mama Jay said you make things.”  
  
JJ turned bright red, right to the tips of her ears, watching her father process what the boy had said.  
  
“Son… which one of these pretty ladies is your mother?” he asked pleasantly. Harrison smiled shyly, and pointed at Emily and JJ, each with one hand.  
  
“These ones are my mommies,” he said. “This one is Emmy, and this one is Princess JJ.”  
  
Jeffrey’s smile froze on his lips. “Jennifer, what is he saying?”  
  
This was not the way JJ had planned to tell her father, but there was no getting out of it. “Dad… Emily and I are… engaged,” she said finally. “And we’re adopting Harrison. Both of us are adopting him. It’s a long story, but essentially, he was orphaned during a case and we took him in.”  
  
“The bad man came and said he was my daddy, and his gun went bang! And then my other mommy fell down, and then the angels took her to heaven,” Harrison chirped. “And then I went in a blue truck, and then the bad man put me in a dark hole, and when I woke up, Mommy was in the hole too, only she was Emmy then. And she told me lots of stories, and then Hotch and Derek and Reid came and the bad man’s gun went bang again and he was gone - Mommy, did the bad man go to heaven too?”  
  
Evidently, there was something in JJ’s father that Harrison liked and trusted, and that was a first. Emily looked at the situation objectively. Where Evan Graham had been dark haired and dark eyed, Jeffrey Jareau had blond hair, grayed at the edges, and blue eyes. He looked a lot like JJ, and Emily could see how that would put Harrison at ease. Still, it was astonishing to hear Harrison’s horrific tale summed up so succinctly in his piping, childish voice. And he wasn’t finished.  
  
“And then I didn’t know who my mommy was going to be, but Emmy said it would be her, and then she kissed the princess and now she’s my Mama, and we’re going to live happily ever after, and I have a new best friend and his name is Jack.” He smiled at Jeffrey. “What’s your name?”  
  
Completely floored, Jeffrey stared at the little boy, and then at his daughter, then at Emily, then back at the little boy again. He rubbed a hand through his hair and swallowed a couple of times. “Well now… since your mama is my little girl, I guess that makes me your Grandpa.”  
  
JJ burst into silent tears, standing up and embracing her father. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I was so scared…”  
  
“Jenny, you know all we’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy, and I know you. You wouldn’t have come all this way and fretted this much over bringing them here if they weren’t damned important to you. It’s not… conventional, but if this makes you happy?”  
  
“It does,” JJ sniffled, wiping her eyes.  
  
“Then it makes me happy, too. And now I get to be a selfish old man and celebrate the fact that I got a brand new daughter and a grandson, all in one day.” He winked at Emily, and held out his hand.  
  
She froze, then took it, and allowed the man to pull her into a light embrace. “Welcome to the family, Miss Emily,” he said.  
  
“Me!” Harrison squealed. “I want hugs!” Emily and JJ gaped as Harrison actually allowed Jeffrey to pick him up and toss him in the air, then hug him lightly.  
  
“What’s all this noise, Jeffrey? Who was at the door?” Sandy Jareau came in from the kitchen, drying her hands on her apron. Harrison held out his arms for JJ, eyeing up this new person, and she and Emily froze. JJ’s father had taken the news so well - hopefully her mother would too.  
  
“Hey Mom, what’s for dinner?” A thirteen year old boy, tall but looking like he hadn’t quite grown into his hands and his feet, bounded down the stairs two at a time, coming up short when he caught sight of the little party in the living room. “Jenny!” He ran forward to hug JJ, who hurriedly passed Harrison back to the nearest set of arms, which happened to be Jeffrey’s, to hug her baby brother.  
  
“Jamie!” she cried, genuinely happy to see him. “God, you grew like eight feet since I saw you last!”  
  
“Jennifer, would you like to introduce us?” Sandy said. Her voice was edged with frost. JJ took a deep breath.


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

“Well, that could have gone better,” Emily ventured later that night as the three of them lay in JJ’s old bed. She wiped the tears from JJ’s face and kissed her gently, trying not to disturb Harrison, who was asleep, not happy until he was firmly sandwiched between them.  
  
“Emily, my mother cried. She cried and started praying for my soul right at the damn dinner table,” JJ said bitterly. “I told my mother I’m in love with a beautiful woman who makes me so happy I can’t believe it, and all she can say is ‘where did I go wrong’.”  
  
“She liked Harry, though.” Emily was grasping at straws, trying to look on the bright side despite her hurt at how poorly JJ’s mother had received her.  
  
“She loved him - as your son. Did you notice that? She refused to acknowledge that I’m his mother too, no matter how many times he called me Mama.” Her arms tightened instinctively around the little boy, who whimpered in his sleep, turning and tossing an arm over her chest. “And when he called Dad Grandpa, like he asked? I thought she was going to throw up.”  
  
“Jay… you said it yourself. They’re small town,” Emily soothed. “But your dad, he’s on board. He adores Harry, and you saw the two of them together. He’s known him for all of a few hours and he’s already playing proud Grandpa. And I have NEVER seen Harry warm up to someone as quickly as he warmed up to your dad - except maybe me. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that they’re in their room now, and he’s talking sense into her. He hated it when you cried.”  
  
“Em… what if my mommy doesn’t love me anymore?” JJ asked, choking on a sob. “What will I do?”  


* * *

  
“Damnit, Sandy, you know you taught her to behave better than you did tonight,” Jeffrey scolded his wife in a low voice. “Our daughter came all the way from Virginia to introduce us to the love of her life, and all you see is that she’s a woman?”  
  
“It’s just so wrong,” Sandy wept. “Jenny is a beautiful girl! She could have any man she wants!”  
  
“But don’t you see? That’s just it! She doesn’t WANT any man, she wants that woman.” He sighed. “Do you remember what I said to you, the day she was born and I held her for the first time?”  
  
Sandy sniffled. “You said you’d never seen anything so damn precious, and that you’d spend the rest of your life doing everything in your power to make her smile. And I smacked you and told you that we had another daughter who was just as precious.”  
  
“I know. After what happened to Amy, I renewed that vow. Amy was sad, in her heart and in her bones, and there wasn’t a single thing I could have done to help. I know that now. But that just makes me want to try even harder to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to Jenny. I can’t lose another daughter, Sandy. I won’t let you drive her away, and I won’t let you make her feel like there’s anything wrong with her.”  
  
“But what will the neighbors think?” Sandy wailed, and Jeffrey heaved a sigh. He honestly wanted to shake his wife right now.  
  
“Who gives a good God damn what the neighbors think?” he hissed. “They can think what they like. We have a daughter who is not only beautiful and intelligent, she’s kind and giving and she’s saving the world, one bad guy at a time. Our daughter is a modern day superhero! And so she loves a woman. So what? That doesn’t change any of the things that make her who she is. It shouldn’t change the fact that we love her.”  
  
“I just wanted her to settle down, have children.”  
  
“Sandy… that’s exactly what she did,” Jeffrey reminded her. “She settled down - with that woman in there. Emily’s the person who makes her happy. She has a child - that little boy, who has taken quite the shine to me, might I add.” He grinned, in spite of the fight they were having. “That little boy calls her Mama and loves her unconditionally just like any child she might have had with a man. All the things you wanted for her, she’s achieved. I didn’t marry a bigot. Did I?”  
  
With one last shuddering breath, Sandy quieted. “I never thought of myself as a bigot. I just wanted so much for her. It’s a lot to get my head around.”  
  
“Just keep telling yourself, all the things you wanted for her, she has - just not the way you envisioned. Many roads lead to the same destination, Sandy. And remember this. We can’t lose Jenny the way we lost Amy. You need to make this right.”

 

* * *

  
In the morning, Emily got Harrison dressed slowly, giving JJ a chance to creep downstairs to try to talk to her mother alone. Harrison picked his clothes out of the suitcase with slow deliberation, as if he could sense the need his Mama had for some alone time. He chose a white short sleeved button down shirt, a blue bow tie, and a pair of khaki shorts, along with the ever present buckled sandals. He submitted patiently as Emily buttoned his shirt, tied his tie, and combed his hair.  
  
“Is that lady going to make Mama cry again?” he asked finally.  
  
“I hope not,” Emily said quietly. “Hey, listen to me. Whatever happened last night, whatever happens today, and no matter what you hear, Mama loves you. Do you understand?”  
  
Harrison gave her a scornful look. “I know that, Mommy.”  


* * *

Sandy Jareau was sitting at the table with two cups of coffee when JJ approached her. “You always were an early riser,” she said, pushing a mug towards her daughter. JJ sat down silently. “Jenny… I owe you an apology. I acted poorly last night, and it isn’t because I don’t love you. It’s because I love you so much, I… I let my dreams for you get in the way of your dreams for yourself.”

  
JJ looked up from her coffee, eyes wide, but stayed silent, letting her mother talk.  
  
“I can’t… be okay with this right off the bat like your father was. I need time to process it,” she went on apologetically. “It isn’t that I don’t approve, and it isn’t that I’m going to push you away, it’s just a lot to take in.”  
  
“I know,” JJ said softly. “Believe me, that wasn’t the way I wanted to do it, but Harry called me Mama in front of Daddy, and then… well, we had some ‘splaining to do,” she joked weakly. “Did you see the way he was with Harry?”  
  
“Your little boy is certainly a charmer,” Sandy admitted, and JJ didn’t miss the way her mother acknowledged Harrison as JJ’s son for the first time. “Your lady, Emily, she seems lovely too. She’s certainly tactful. Throughout the ruckus I was making last night, she actually kept up a conversation with Jamie about… Lord, what were they talking about?”  
  
“They were debating the relative merits of having pineapple on pizza,” JJ laughed suddenly. “Emily hates pineapple on pizza. She can’t even just pick it off - to her, if there was even pineapple on the same COUNTER as the pizza then the pizza is a write off.”  
  
“And Jamie can’t get enough of it,” Sandy laughed, before turning serious. “When they come down, I’ll apologize to her. I’m sorry, Jenny. I know it can’t have been easy coming here, and I need you to know… you are loved, no matter what. I don’t want to lose you.”  
  
“Mom, I’m not going to… I’m not Amy,” JJ said. “I have too much to live for.” She reached across the table and took her mother’s hand, squeezing gently.  


* * *

  
“Morning, um, Emily was it?” Jamie said as he took the stairs two at a time once again. “Hey, can the little dude play video games with me?”  
  
Emily was honestly surprised at the offer. In her experience, teenage boys had to be coerced into babysitting and promised scads of cash into the bargain. Seldom did they offer.  
  
“I don’t know that he’ll go with you,” she said doubtfully. “I didn’t get to tell you much about him, but he’s pretty skittish around strangers.”  
  
“Can we ask him?” he persisted. He leaned down and addressed Harrison, perched on Emily’s hip. “What do you think, little dude? Do you wanna come and play video games with me?”  
  
“Do you have a gun?” Harrison asked.  
  
Jamie’s eyes widened, but he shook his head. “Nah, I’m just a kid. I don’t have a gun.”  
  
“You’re a big boy,” Harrison said, assessing Jamie. “Okay, I’ll come and play with you.”  
  
What was it about JJ’s family that put him right at ease? Emily had no idea, but she set him on his feet and watched him take JJ’s brother’s hand and smile up at him. She passed Jamie a twenty dollar bill and smiled. “Maybe later you guys can go for burgers, on me,” she said, and watched the Jareau smile light up his face. That kid was going to break hearts when he grew into his height. The entire family was far too good looking for their own good.  
  
She watched Jamie helping Harrison climb the stairs, and bit her lip. “Hey, Jamie?” she called. When he paused and looked down at her, she blushed. “Are you… is it cool, that I’m gonna marry your sister?”  
  
Jamie thought about it for a second then shrugged. “I dunno. Jenny like, loves you, so if you guys wanna get married, I guess that’s pretty cool. Can I come to the wedding?”  
  
“Of course you can come. I definitely want you there.”  
  
“Neat. Anyway, you’re like… um, totally pretty, or whatever, so yeah. I guess Jenny’s pretty lucky.” He turned and fled up the rest of the stairs after Harrison, and Emily heard the sound of a bedroom door shutting. She struggled to keep her giggles in.  
  
“I think your brother has a crush on me,” she laughed as she entered the kitchen and saw JJ with her mother. “He just told me I’m ‘totally pretty or whatever’.” She giggled again. “No one’s called me ‘totally pretty or whatever’ since I was a teenager. It’s kind of flattering.”  
  
Casting a glance at her mother, JJ played along. “Well, I think you’re totally pretty, or whatever.” She fluttered her eyelashes dramatically and giggled.  
  
“Good grief, first you charm Jenny, and now Jamie. You stay away from my husband, you hear?” Sandy Jareau almost sounded serious, until Emily turned and gaped at her, caught her wink and burst into shocked laughter.


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter One for notes/disclaimer.

An hour later, the women were still in the kitchen chatting. Emily had finally gathered the courage to ask about the huge age gap between JJ and Jamie, and Sandy had quite candidly responded. “He was an empty nest baby,” she said. “Jenny was going away to college, and Jeffrey and I were faced with the idea of having this big old house all to ourselves. I could have gone out and got a job, but the truth is I’ve never been any great shakes at anything but being a mother. So, we decided to have Jamie.”  
  
“It’s kind of cute, how you’ve got so many J names,” Emily remarked. “Jeffrey, Jennifer, Jamie… was that intentional?”  
  
JJ looked down at her lap. “I had a sister named Amy. Jamie is named for the J we all shared, and for Amy’s memory.” She smiled weakly. “People always assume Jamie is short for James, but it isn’t.”  
  
Emily reached out for JJ’s hand. “Maybe one day you can tell me about her,” she said softly, but she didn’t push. Instead, she got up from the table. “I’m going to go and get dressed, and then I think I’m going to take the boys out,” she decided. “It’ll give you a chance to spend some time with your parents, okay?”  
  
When JJ nodded, Emily leaned down and kissed her lightly then went upstairs. “Hey, Jamie, do you want to come to the mall with me and Harry?” She asked as she opened the door to Jamie’s room. What she saw made her blink back tears. Harrison was sitting in Jamie’s lap, playing some sort of computer game that was obviously aimed the younger boy’s age group, and Jamie was patiently helping him.  
  
Emily watched for a while and she could see all the fun Harrison was having with the game, and with Jamie’s attention. “What is this game? Do you think you could put it on my flash drive for us to take home with us?” she asked  
  
“Yeah, I can do that,” Jamie replied. “Hey, Emily… Harry’s neat. I’m glad Jenny brought you guys here.”  
  
Emily grinned, reaching out and messing up Jamie’s hair, then pulling him into a light hug. “I’m glad we came too.  


* * *

  
“I’m fat,” Garcia moaned.  
  
“You’re pregnant, and beautiful,” Hotch said automatically. He turned the page of his book and then went back to stroking her hair.  
  
“I was fat before I was pregnant,” she said quietly. “I mean, I love JJ and Emily, but I never really felt pretty next to them. They were the Miss Congeniality style FBI gals, and I was just Ugly Betty in the dark room.”  
  
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Hotch asked mildly.  
  
That stopped Garcia in her tracks. “What?”  
  
“Do you consider me to be a man who is lacking in brain function?”  
  
“Of course I don’t!”  
  
“Then you can rest easy knowing that I’m exactly where I want to be. Only a very stupid man would allow things to get this far with a woman he didn’t love. Do you think I’m so stupid that I would ask you to move in if I wasn’t attracted to you? Do you think I’m so mentally deficient that I would introduce you to my son if I didn’t see a future with you?”  
  
Garcia pouted. “No, I guess not. But you’re stupid in other ways.”  
  
“Oh, am I?”  
  
“Yes. When your very pregnant partner is complaining, your job is to commiserate. Logic has no place in this conversation,” she said, but her pout was slipping and giving way to a small smile. Hotch bent down and kissed her.  
  
“Well, I apologize for my lapse in intelligence, and I promise never to shoehorn logic in where it clearly doesn’t belong ever again. Perhaps I could gain back a few IQ points by telling you that I have a pint of cookies and cream ice cream in the freezer?”  
  
“You’re a genius.”  


* * *

  
East Allegheny’s approximation of a mall was about a tenth of the size of those in DC, but Jamie dutifully navigated them there, conscientiously telling Emily when and where to turn until they pulled into the parking lot. “Well, this is it,” he said unnecessarily.  
  
“Thanks for the directions,” Emily said, letting Harrison out of his seat. “Now, the reason we’re here, is because I want to show my appreciation for you playing with Harrison this morning, without even being asked. It was a big help, because as you probably guessed, your mom and dad had a lot to talk about with JJ and me.”  
  
Jamie nodded, looking down at the floor and scuffing his feet. “I just wanted to play on my computer. I thought he might like to play too,” he deflected.  
  
Emily tipped his chin up so he was looking her in the eye. “No matter why you did it, it was a nice thing that you did, and now I want to do something nice for you. So I want you to pick out something, anything here, and I’ll buy it for you.”  
  
Jamie gave her a puzzled look. “Mom says a good deed is its own reward,” he said, his voice unsure.  
  
“And what do you think?”  
  
“I dunno. It feels good to do nice stuff for people. I don’t really care if I get anything back. And anyway, people do nice stuff for me all the time. Like last night, you know? Mom made a really awesome dinner. So I figure it evens out.” He shrugged.  
  
“Okay, so that’s what this is. I’m doing something nice for you. So pick something,” Emily insisted.  
  
After a long pause, Jamie bit his lip. “Could I please have an ice cream?” he asked. Emily frowned. She had been expecting him to point to an iPod, a skateboard, maybe even some sneakers - anything but a simple ice cream.  
  
“That’s what you want? I’m telling you, you can have anything you want in this entire mall, and you’re choosing an ice cream? Dare to dream big, kid.”  
  
Again, Jamie paused, bottom lip back between his teeth. “Could I please have two scoops?” And then, after a beat, he added, “And sprinkles?”  
  
So it wasn’t just JJ who was completely selfless and unconcerned with her money. Clearly, Sandy and Jeffrey Jareau were raising their children right - neither of them had a single mercenary bone in their body. She’d practically had to fight to get Jamie to admit to wanting as little as an ice cream cone, and she’d expected him to want so much more. Finally, she sighed. “Sure, kid. You can have two scoops and sprinkles.”  
  
“Can I have ice cream too, Mommy?” Harrison asked. Emily pretended to look him over, frowning.  
  
“I don’t know. How much do you love me?” she asked playfully.  
  
“I love you a hundred and thousand and million,” he declared, using the biggest numbers he knew.  
  
“Do you love me… two scoops with sprinkles?” she asked.  
  
“I love you twenty hundred scoops with… with… BUBBLEGUM on top!” he squealed, and Emily laughed.  
  
“And how would you fit twenty hundred scoops of ice cream in this tummy?” she asked, poking him gently in the belly.  
  
“Silly Mommy, that’s how I’ll get to be a big boy like Jamie,” he informed her. Emily couldn’t argue with that logic, so she took the boys directly to the ice cream parlor and ordered them both big two scoop cones.  
  
“Thanks Emily. You rock,” Jamie said, slurping his treat.  


* * *

  
“So you’re getting married,” Sandy said as she and JJ settled in two deck chairs in the back yard. “Well come on, show me your ring!”  
  
JJ shyly pulled it out from where it had been hiding, on a chain around her neck, and put it on her finger. Sandy’s jaw dropped.  
  
“Good lord Jenny, that rock is bigger than your son,” she gaped, and JJ giggled.  
  
“Emily likes to spoil me,” she said with a shrug. She didn’t really want to tell her mother the extent of Emily’s wealth - she didn’t like to think about it herself - but she filled her in on the fact that Emily was the daughter of an ambassador, and told her that she wasn’t exactly hurting for money, though she glossed over the details.


	42. Chapter 42

PART 42  
Harrison had bonded beautifully with the three new members of his family. He had been Grandpa’s helper in the workshop, and he had baked cookies with Nana, and he had played computer games and kicked a ball around with Jamie. Having his attention monopolized in this manner gave Emily and JJ ample time to enjoy each other. They’d spent a couple of afternoons just walking around East Allegheny hand in hand, as JJ pointed out the sights to her, and told stories of her childhood.

Everything seemed lighter somehow. Most of JJ’s hesitation in coming here was based on her fear of how her family would react, and that fear was gone. Her parents, after the initial hiccup, had both embraced Emily and Harrison wholeheartedly, and her brother was being his usual easygoing self. So JJ had no problem walking around her home town holding Emily’s hand and occasionally stealing a kiss. If people didn’t approve, if there were any stares or frowns, JJ didn’t see them and wouldn’t have cared if she did.

“I love you for coming here,” she said quietly at one point, as they strolled past JJ’s elementary school.

“Someday, I’m going to take you to Italy,” Emily said with a smile. “And all the other places I grew up in.”

***

They packed to leave and Emily slipped into Jamie’s room. “Hey kid,” she greeted him. “I’m going to miss you. I never had a little brother, but if I did? I’d want him to be just like you.”

Blushing, Jamie sat up from where he had been lounging on his bed with a book. “Well, if you’re marrying Jenny, I guess that means I kind of will be your brother, doesn’t it?” he said, a hint of hope in his voice.

“Yeah, I guess it does,” Emily grinned. “Look… I know when I took you to the mall you said all you wanted was that ice cream. I want you to know that I respect that, but I’m going to tell you the same thing I told JJ. Sometimes, I just like to spoil the people I love. I don’t do it because they ask me to, and I don’t do it because I think I have to – I do it because I want to.” She handed him a small giftwrapped box, then leaned back against the door frame. “Open it.”

Jamie tore off the wrapping, face red. “You bought me an iPhone?” he squeaked, voice cracking. He looked up at Emily, eyes wide with shock. “Emily, this is…”

“This is my gift to my new little brother,” Emily said firmly. “And before you start worrying that your mother or father will think you asked for it, I already cleared it with them. There’s just one condition.”

Jamie was already turning his new phone over and over in his hands reverently. “What is it?”

“I want to hear from you,” Emily said simply. “And so does JJ. We want you to call us, tell us how you are, how school is. If you’re ever in trouble, or you need anything, we want to know. I got you the phone, so you don’t have to wait until the next time we come out here to talk to us.”

“Tyler Nelson is gonna puke green slime when he sees this,” Jamie said with a grin. “All of my friends want one, but none of their parents will get them one. You are the coolest…” He got up from the bed and crossed the room, wrapping his arms around Emily’s waist tightly. “Thank you.”

Emily returned the hug with a fond smile. “Just make sure you keep in touch,” she reminded him.

***

By the time they were home it was late, and Emily took Harrison straight up to bed. He stirred as she changed him into his pajamas, and spoke sleepily.

“Mommy, I know you’re not my real mommy,” he said quietly. “I know your name is Emmy, and I get to have you for a mommy because my real mommy went to heaven. But I think you’re a nice mommy, and I love you,” he said. Eyelids heavy, he struggled to sit up and give her a hug. “I love you a hundred Grandpas and a thousand Jacks,” he finished, snuggling into her chest and falling asleep.

Emily was in tears as she left the room and told JJ what he’d said to her, and of course that set JJ off. They sat on the couch sniffling and smiling, laughing at the way they were being such emotional girls. “Didn’t I tell you that you’d be a great mom?” JJ said.

***

The following day was Friday, and Emily and JJ went in to work as usual after dropping Harrison off at daycare. Emily sat at her desk, and JJ headed up to her office.

“I missed you this week, Miss JJ. Where have you been?” Bartlett said from where he sat, and JJ sighed.

“I took some personal time, and went home,” she said. She’d learned that it was no use lying to profilers. It was best to just give them enough of the truth that they believed you, and leave out the parts you didn’t want to talk about.

“I noticed that Prentiss took the same personal time,” Bartlett remarked.

“Is that right?” JJ asked, making her voice sound distracted and uninterested. She hadn’t told Bartlett that she was dating Emily, because he seemed to be exactly the type to be vindictive and go straight to Strauss with the information. Everyone else on the floor – even Anderson – knew them and liked them well enough to keep their mouth shut. “Perhaps she took advantage of the slow work load to spend some time with her loved ones, the way I did.”

“I don’t know,” Bartlett mused. “The more I think about it, the more I think she was lying when she told me she was seeing someone. There are no family photos on her desk, and I’ve never seen her take a personal call while she’s been here, like you’d expect to see when you work the kind of hours we do.”

“Perhaps her partner just understands the job she does,” JJ said blandly. “You know what Shakespeare said – there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio…”

“No, I think it’s one of two things,” Bartlett decided. “Either she’s single, and just told me she was seeing someone to make me stop hitting on her – unnecessary, by the way. She’s hot, but she’s not THAT hot. She didn’t need to make stuff up to get me to look elsewhere.” He smiled smugly at JJ, unaware that behind her media liaison smile, she was idly plotting his demise.

“Or?” she said. Her voice was quiet and vaguely dangerous.

“Or she’s a dyke, and is trying to hide it,” he chortled. “She knows that even if she had me, she wouldn’t know what to do with me, so she lies about seeing someone to turn me off. Have you ever noticed that she plays the pronoun game? Try it sometime. Ask her about her partner. She never says he or him, she either says they or them, or avoids the use of pronouns all together.”

“That’s an interesting hypothesis,” JJ said pleasantly. “But there are a couple of problems with it. First of all, Emily’s private life is none of our business. If that’s the way she chooses to talk about her relationship, that’s her decision. She shouldn’t have to use masculine pronouns just to reinforce her story. Furthermore, she shouldn’t have to TELL a story in the first place – who are you, that she needs to justify herself and her personal life to you?” She took a breath, this time seeing the ugly, cold look in his eyes, though his smile hadn’t changed. “And lastly, this is the year 2016. If Emily is dating a woman, then who the hell cares? It still doesn’t make it any of our business.”

“It explains a lot,” Bartlett said obstinately. “She dresses like a dyke.”

This caught JJ off guard, and she actually looked down into the bullpen, regarding Emily’s form appraisingly. “Do you think so?” she asked. “I’ve never really thought about it.”

Leaving Bartlett to draw his own conclusions from her remark, JJ escaped into her office.

***

For the rest of the day, JJ and Emily did their best to ignore Bartlett, instead turning their attention to the far more pleasant business of the following day’s standing picnic. “Morgan,” JJ called to him as she walked closer. “You’re bringing the dessert, right?”  
“I’m making a big old chocolate cake,” he responded with his easy smile, and she grinned back.

“And Reid, did you remember to pick up the potato salad?” she asked.  
“Yes, and I got potato chips as well. Hannah wants to know if it’s still okay that she comes?” he asked, looking nervously. JJ nodded, laughing as she ruffled his hair.

“We’re having a party?” Bartlett interjected, and JJ groaned silently, her feeling mirrored in Emily’s expression.

“We’re having a picnic,” Emily said shortly.

Bartlett, still unaware that Emily and JJ lived together, incorrectly assumed that it was a company picnic, as opposed to a private gathering. “What do you need me to bring?” he asked, rubbing his hands together.

The BAU team looked at each other, no one speaking. None of the men wanted to overstep their boundaries, thinking that it fell to JJ and Emily to decide who was invited and who wasn’t.

“You don’t need to bring anything.” Hotch knew a little about Bartlett’s chauvinistic remarks from JJ – though she had asked him not to take any disciplinary action as just yet – and he jumped in and saved the day by interrupting the silence in his usual brusque, working voice. “You’re not invited.” Emily could have leaped up and kissed him for getting them off the hook. No one wanted to spend the day with Bartlett.

“With all due respect, boss, you can’t pick and choose who is allowed to come to the company picnic,” Bartlett attempted, and Hotch barked out a laugh. Despite how unprofessional it might have been, he didn’t like Bartlett any more than Emily and JJ did.

“It isn’t a company picnic, it’s a family picnic, and you’re not invited,” he repeated. “Oh, and Emily, Jack wants to know if Harrison can sleep over tomorrow night.”

The team continued their planning on the way into the conference room, and Bartlett remained at his desk, fuming. He didn’t like being left out. He didn’t like that they had secrets and parties that he wasn’t privy to, and he especially didn’t like that they apparently had the boss in their pocket. Stupid stuck up BAU. He would show them.


	43. Chapter 43

PART 43  
Monday morning dawned bright and sunny, and Emily got Harrison showered and dressed while JJ made breakfast. “Don’t forget my tie, Mommy,” he said dully, holding up a blue and white tie. What had started as imitating Uncle Reid had turned into a habit, with Harrison insisting on wearing a tie most days. The only days he didn’t were Saturdays, during the picnic, because he allowed himself to be dressed much more casually for play.

“Are you feeling okay, baby?” Emily asked, combing his hair. He was usually more enthusiastic in the mornings, clamoring for hugs and kisses, and for his mothers to sing and dance with him. Today he seemed a little… off.

“My ear hurts,” he said in a small voice.

Emily picked him up and carried him downstairs, sitting him in his seat at the table. “Jay, he’s complaining of a sore ear,” she said worriedly. “What do we do, should we take him to the doctor?”  
JJ turned and looked at Harrison carefully. “Is it very bad?” she asked, keeping her voice casual. She didn’t want to worry him by panicking in front of him.

“It’s just sore,” he said, rubbing it a little. “Can I go to school now?”

Emily made sure to tell his teachers what was going on when she dropped him off, and she and JJ continued on into work. However, a couple of hours later, she got a call on her cell.

“Agent Prentiss, this is Sarah from Happy Valley. Your son is complaining of severe pain in his ear, and when we took his temperature we discovered that he’s running a low-grade fever. Is there someone available to come and collect him?”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she said, disconnecting and heading up to Hotch’s office. “Hotch, I need to leave for a bit. Harrison’s sick, I think. I need to take him to the doctor… God, I am so not equipped for this.” She looked and sounded utterly flustered, and Hotch took pity on her.

“Take a deep breath, Prentiss. Remember, if he’s sick, he’s probably scared. He doesn’t understand what’s happening to his body, or why he feels so… icky.”

Hearing Hotch say the word icky made Emily laugh.

“So you’ll go and pick him up. You’ll take him to the doctor, and you’ll take him home and put him to bed and just… be with him. You’ll be fine,” he went on.

“No, sir, I… I have too much paperwork piled up,” Emily spluttered. “I can’t just take the rest of the day off.”

Hotch sighed. “Well… we don’t have anything pressing at the moment. Don’t think I’ll let you make a habit of this, Prentiss, but you can bring him here for the afternoon. You’re right, you do need to get that paperwork done, but it’s his first time being sick since he’s come to you. I can appreciate he’d want you, rather than a babysitter. He can nap on a couch, and there’s an entire BAU worth of babysitters who can trade off watching him while we work around him.”

“Thank you, sir,” Emily breathed, smiling at him. “I owe you one.”  
“Of course if he’s contagious, the deal’s off.” Hotch’s eyes twinkled. “I don’t need any epidemics, you hear?”

“Yes sir!”

***

By the time she got to the preschool Harrison was crying in pain and clutching at his ear. Jack was sitting with him, his arm around his “little brother”. Emily strode over and scooped Harrison up, pressing a kiss to Jack’s forehead which he hurriedly wiped off. She signed out, and drove quickly to the pediatrician that she’d met with a couple of times while she was working to get guardianship.

Dr. Lambert was kind and understanding, especially of the fact that Emily was a first time parent and that she’d been gifted with an instant four year old. He was able to reassure her that Harrison would be fine, even over the sound of his tears of pain. He prescribed antibiotics and age appropriate painkillers, and they were done. As far as visits to the doctor went, it was very low key and very non-threatening.

The baby Tylenol appeared to do the trick, at least for now, and by the time Emily was pulling back into the FBI building he was nodding off. She picked him up out of his seat and he slumped listlessly in her arms as she carried him into the office.

“Who’s the kid?” she heard Bartlett remark, but she didn’t answer him. No one did, which only made him ask louder. “Is that Prentiss’ kid?”  
Emily, momentarily at a loss for what to do with the sleeping child, just sat down in her chair with him straddling her lap, sprawled over her chest, fast asleep. It wasn’t the most efficient way to type, but it would be fine for one afternoon.

“Poor little guy, how is he?” Morgan asked in a low voice. He reached down and smoothed Harrison’s hair back, pulling his hand back quickly. “Whoa, Em, he’s burning up.”

She grimaced. “I know, he’s like a little furnace, but I didn’t know what else to do. I don’t want to put him down on a couch somewhere, because I know what’ll happen if he wakes up someplace unfamiliar.”  
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked. He glanced over at Bartlett, who was eyeing them suspiciously. “Don’t look now, but Agent Asshole is looking at us.”

“Ugh, you’ve noticed it too?” Emily asked. “He is such a slimy jerk.” She reached around Harrison’s limp little body to type into her computer, not wanting to give Bartlett any excuse to think she wasn’t working.

“Here, give him to me,” Morgan offered, holding out his arms. “Many hands make light work, and my paperwork is almost done.” So Emily handed Harrison off to Morgan, under the watchful eye of Agent Bartlett.

***

An hour later, Harrison woke up, weepy and disoriented. He reached for Emily, and she took him from Morgan’s lap and gave him some more Tylenol. She carried him up to Hotch’s office and knocked on the door.  
“Hey, Uncle Aaron, someone’s awake,” Emily said softly. Hotch looked up from his work and his normally severe expression softened into a smile.

“Hey, buddy. Mommy told me you have a sore ear,” he said, his voice completely different to the stern voice he used to brief agents for cases. Harrison nodded miserably, squirmed out of Emily’s arms, and padded over to Hotch, climbing into his lap.

“Jack was nice to me,” he said, leaning into Hotch’s chest. “He sat next to me and put his arm around me and he told everyone to be nice to me because I’m his little brother, and he read me a story.” Hotch smiled, watching Harrison yawn and wince at the pain yawning caused his ear.

“Well, you and Jack are such good friends, you’re almost like brothers,” he said softly. He nodded at Emily, indicating that he was fine and she could leave Harrison with him and go and get some work done. She smiled gratefully and made her way back down to the bull pen. Bartlett’s voice stopped her.

“So that’s your kid?” he asked, his face friendly but his tone bordering on sarcastic.

“Yes, that’s my son,” Emily said shortly.

“And that’s how you dress him? You make a three year old wear a tie? In some jurisdictions that could be considered child abuse,” he smirked.

“For your information, he’s four, almost five. And he picks out his own clothes, including the tie,” Emily snapped. “Not that it’s any of your business, but he does have variety in his closet. That’s just how…” She stopped, not wanting to reveal to Bartlett that Harrison wasn’t biologically hers. “That’s just how he’s always chosen to dress.”

“He’s pretty tiny for four,” Bartlett remarked critically. “What was he, premature?”

“I still don’t see how this is any of your business,” Emily snarled.

“Well, you’re the one who paraded him in here, and everyone around here is acting like he’s communal property. Morgan’s had him in his lap for an hour and the tech geek stopped by to coo at him, and now even Boss Man Hotch is babysitting for you. Or is that your big secret, Prentiss? Is Boss Man his daddy?” Emily just gaped at him, and unfortunately, Bartlett took this for an admission. “Oh, this is rich. Does Strauss know that you let the boss knock you up? Or is that how you got this job, by carrying the spawn of Hotchner?”

Surprisingly, Reid was the one who intervened, and saved Bartlett from the ass kicking Emily was about to hand out. “Well, it’s interesting, how our little family came to be,” he began, and though Emily gave him a warning look not to discuss Harrison’s background in front of Bartlett, Reid was already off on a tangent. “I’m sure you’ve heard the old aphorism ‘it takes a village to raise a child’? I suppose there’s just something about the BAU. We’re a lot closer than your average FBI unit… perhaps it’s all the traveling we do, or the horrors we face together that really only another person in the unit can understand…” He trailed off, as if making a mental note to look up some case studies to see if he could support this hypothesis. “Anyway, when Emily became a mother it was only natural that the rest of us should rally around. Here in the BAU we support each other with whatever we need. We couldn’t survive otherwise. And we have picnics on Saturdays which only serve to further strengthen our bond, so we’ve all spent a lot of time with Harrison, and with Hotch’s son Jack. And no, Hotch isn’t Harrison’s father. Harrison’s father is…” Reid finally caught Emily’s eye, “dead.”

Bartlett’s eyes had glazed over at the beginning of Reid’s monologue, but he snapped back to attention at this last sentence. “The kid’s father is dead?” he repeated. “So you are single, Prentiss.”

“What do you care? Are you going to ask me out again?” Emily sneered. “No thanks, I’m happily engaged.” She flashed her ring at him defiantly. “And before you ask, no – I’m not engaged to Hotch.” She clapped Reid on the shoulder and guided him back to their desks, away from Bartlett.

Bartlett frowned. Every time he thought he’d figured the BAU out, something new threw his assessment of them. He’d already pegged them as cliquey and almost snobby in their exclusivity – Saturday picnics indeed – but now there was the seeming mystery of Harrison’s paternity (Bartlett wasn’t convinced that Prentiss hadn’t spread her legs for Hotchner, no matter what the skinny nerd said) and the ongoing mystery of who Prentiss was seeing. Still, he had time. He’d figure them out, and if there was anything juicy to be discovered, he’d take it straight to Strauss. He wasn’t stupid. He knew how to play the game to get ahead. Soon enough a spot on that snotty, exclusive BAU team would be his, and then they’d have to accept him into the fold.

Maybe then he’d have a shot at getting into Jareau’s pants.


	44. Chapter 44

For the rest of the afternoon Harrison wandered from person to person. Reid read him stories, and Garcia let him play on one of her old laptops, unconnected to anything official. In the end he padded up the stairs by himself and found JJ, crawling into her lap.

“Hey, baby,” JJ crooned, wrapping her arms around him as he laid his head on her chest. “How are you feeling?”

“It hurts, Mama,” he whimpered. “Make it stop?”

She carried him out to the bullpen and held out her hand to Emily for his medicine, giving him a half dose. “Do you want me to take you home?” she asked.

“No, I wanna stay here with everyone,” he said decisively.

“Hey, I’m thinking I’m gonna invite Anderson for this Saturday,” Emily smirked. “I know we haven’t before, but… The look on Bartlett’s face when he realizes that everyone BUT him is invited is just too tempting to pass up. And besides, Anderson is a nice guy.”

JJ grinned. “You know what?” she said. “I’m going to take Harry over, introduce them, and invite him right now. Then Agent Jackass will have a front row seat. God, it’s so cruel, but he really deserves it.”

She carried Harrison over, introduced them, and invited Anderson to come to the picnic. He was surprised, but flattered, and promised to be there. “I barbecue a mean chicken kebab,” he said excitedly. “Can I bring some?” JJ nodded, grinning as she caught Bartlett’s expression out of the corner of her eye.

“We’d love to have you,” she said, her voice just a little louder than necessary. “We usually meet up around eleven, and we have lunch and most times, dinner as well. And we generally kick a ball around or something like that.”

***

Later that night when all three of them were settling down to sleep, JJ curled herself into Emily and sighed. “It’s been weeks, and we still haven’t talked about babies again,” she said carefully.

“It’s been a couple of weeks at most since you first brought it up, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it, in between everything else I have to think about,” Emily replied. “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

JJ blushed and nodded. “I’m probably one of the only people around who has experienced both sides – having siblings and being an only child, and being old enough to comprehend both. I was the little sister until Amy… died, and then I was an only child until Jamie was born. I know what I preferred. I want Harrison to have brothers and sisters… and I think we can do it. I know you’re a wonderful mother.”

They were interrupted by the sound of Harrison wailing in pain from his room. Emily got out of bed and went to get him, coming back with him in her arms and his medicine in her hand. Once he was dosed and on his way back to sleep, she looked seriously at JJ for a long moment. “In the morning,” she said slowly, “I’ll call the doctor, and tell him we want to have a baby. I’ll need tests, and some sort of referral to a sperm bank, and…”

JJ cut her off with a kiss. “I love you,” she said fiercely. “And if you want me to be the one who does this, I will…”

“No, I want to do it, just in case I’m running out of time,” Emily said softly. “I’m… older than you. And the longer I wait, the more chance there is of… complications. I want to do it.”

***

“Hotch, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this a secret,” Garcia said worriedly. “I’ve been on edge ever since I found out what we’re having, and I’m scared all the time that I’m going to let something slip and ruin the surprise for you.”

Hotch looked at her and sighed. “You’re due in two months. You’re not gonna make it, are you?”

Garcia bit her lip and shook her head guiltily.

“Tell me.”

With a grin that was bright with happy tears, Garcia took a deep breath. “It’s a girl,” she whispered. 

“We’re having a little girl?” Hotch asked, his whole face lighting up. “That’s amazing, Pen. That’s… we’re going to have a daughter!”

Garcia leaned into him. “And I picked out a name for her, like, weeks ago,” she went on. “I think that’s what’s been bugging me the most, more than not being able to paint the nursery, and more than not being able to overindulge in pink baby clothes and pink toys… I wanted to tell you our daughter’s name.”

“What is it?”

“I want to call her Phoebe,” Garcia said hesitantly. “It’s like I was telling Morgan, I wanted her to have a P name like me, and I also wanted to keep the mythology connection. Penelope was Pan’s mother, and Phoebe is all over Greek and Roman mythology – and it means bright, radiant.” She smiled to herself. “And she’s already the light of my life. I thought it fit.”

“I think it’s perfect,” Hotch agreed. “I think you’re perfect.”

***

Anderson’s chicken kebabs were a huge success at the picnic, and it was unanimously voted that he should be a regular participant in the festivities. To the group of experienced profilers, it was obvious that he was really making an effort to fit in, and to be a part of the group. He went out of his way to stop and chat to each of the adults, and he was more than willing to chase Jack and Harry around the backyard, and be the monster in their game. He even stammered his way through an introduction to the Ambassador, though she did her best to put him at ease.

“At these picnics, Agent Anderson,” she said kindly, “I am not a United States ambassador. I am simply a proud mother and grandmother.” She punctuated this statement by wrapping an arm around a surprised Emily’s waist and kissing her cheek lightly.

“Please ma’am, call me Brian,” he said, smiling shyly before running off to kick the soccer ball around with Jack and Harrison.

“Well, mother, you’ve certainly changed,” Emily said quietly as the two women watched him go. “I think the last time you showed me this sort of physical affection was sometime before I turned four.”

“Did I overstep?” Elizabeth asked, looking uncharacteristically worried. “I just… When I watch you and JJ with Harrison, you’re always kissing and hugging him, and he loves it. He loves the attention and the affection, and I see him seeking it out. I know I failed while you were growing up, but I rather hoped it wasn’t too late for me to kiss my daughter,” she said awkwardly.

“No, I don’t think it is,” Emily said softly. She turned, hugging her mother tightly for the first time since she could remember, and smiled as the hug was returned.

“I want hugs!” Harrison squealed predictably once he saw his mother and his grandmother hugging. He raced over and launched himself at Elizabeth’s legs, and she picked him up and squeezed him tightly, dropping kisses all over his little face. Emily was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said as Harrison kissed her. “Thank you for bringing this little boy into my life and thank you for not shutting me out of his life and yours. I would have deserved it, but you… I will never be able to express my awe at the woman you have become, Emily.”

***

As the sun went down, Anderson endeared himself to the adults even further by settling the little boys on a blanket in a makeshift tent he constructed himself, and entertaining them with stories he pulled out of his own head until they both fell asleep. He emerged from the little hideaway to find all eyes on him, and he blushed hotly.

“Impressive, Anderson,” Hotch said casually, passing him a beer. “Have you considered writing children’s books on the side?”

“Do you really think I could, sir?” Anderson asked incredulously.

“I think you already have two fans in that tent,” Hotch said with a small smile.

Anderson sat, next to Reid and Hannah, and joined in the conversation. As the day had progressed he had relaxed considerably. He had gone from walking on eggshells, as if he expected his invitation to be revoked at any moment, to being much more natural and casual, enjoying the company of the others as they enjoyed his presence. Over dinner, Morgan even invited him on the next “boys’ night out”, and from the look on his face, Anderson was honored and only too eager to accept.  
He knew only too well that he’d made a near lethal mistake a few years ago, leaving Agent Greenaway alone at her house without clearing the scene first. Admittedly, Agent Hotchner hadn’t specifically told him to, but it should have been second nature for him to sweep the house and he hadn’t. He had felt responsible for what had happened to Agent Greenaway, even before Agent Hotchner had torn him a new one. Ever since then, he’d been doing his best to work hard and not make any more mistakes. He knew he could never make it up to Agent Greenaway, because she was long gone, but he had hoped to one day be accepted by the rest of the BAU again. It looked like that day had come. 

***

A dark, unmarked sedan sat unnoticed outside Prentiss’ place as the party broke up and people started to disperse. Bartlett sat inside, watching people leave. He saw Hotch and Garcia leave together, and Morgan left alone, and Reid left with a woman he didn’t recognize. He saw more proof that Prentiss was a liar, as she hugged an older woman who could only have been her mother. According to what he’d gleaned around the office, Prentiss was estranged from her mother, and that didn’t look estranged to him.

That smarmy little bastard Anderson left, receiving hugs from both Prentiss and Jareau before he got in his car. Bartlett fumed for a minute after seeing that. What did Anderson have that he didn’t, to be invited to the fabled picnic? Maybe he was banging Jareau. But if that was the case, then why didn’t Jareau leave with him? It was obviously Prentiss’ place, if her mother had been there.

Bartlett got his answer when, after waving all their friends off, Prentiss and Jareau shared a tender kiss before going back inside the house. Caught somewhere between arousal and shocked horror, Bartlett just sat there for a long while, frantically trying to decide what to do next. He should report this, he should call Strauss, he should…

His eyes narrowed. No, he had a better idea. Things had been happening around him that could not be allowed to continue. People had been excluding him, keeping secrets from him, lying to him – and Bartlett was not a man who would stand for such treatment. No, he knew just what to do next. He turned the key in the ignition and drove smoothly and silently away from Prentiss’ house.


	45. Chapter 45

“What did the doctor say?” JJ hissed as Emily sat down at her desk. The only appointment she’d been able to get was early in the morning, but it had meant that she was late for work.

“Apparently twenty percent of women my age are infertile,” Emily said in a quiet voice. “But she’s running tests. There’s nothing physically wrong with me, I’m strong and well-nourished and healthy, so there’s no obvious reason that I can’t.”

JJ smiled excitedly. “This is just… There’s a part of me that can’t quite believe you’re doing this for me,” she said. “I mean, I know you said you liked to spoil me, but this is just… on another plane.”

“I’m not doing this for you,” Emily said, surprised. “Well, I mean, I am, but I’m not JUST doing this for you. I’m doing it for me. I’m doing it for us. Anyway, there was a bunch of cautionary stuff she said. Blah, blah, blah, women over forty are more likely to have complications, low birth weights, Down syndrome, etcetera. There’s a greater chance I’d have to have a Cesarean to deliver. But none of that sounds too terrible.”

“This is really happening,” JJ said, still with that excited, amazed look on her face. “God, I love you.”

***

A couple of weeks later the tests came back and as far as medical science could tell, Emily was physically capable of falling pregnant. So over a late dinner, she and JJ started to talk logistics. Neither of them wanted to include a man in their love making, so the logical next thought was a donor.

“I don’t want it to be one of the guys on the team,” Emily said decisively. “I’m in favor of using an anonymous donor who has already signed waivers and such. It’s not that I think that one of our guys would want to take the baby from us, but I want this baby to be just ours, and not ours-and-Morgan’s, for example.”

“I agree. It would just be too weird,” JJ nodded. “So what do we do? Go to a bank and ask for a cup of stuff?”

“As crude as that sounds, I think that’s about the long and the short of it,” Emily mused. “Dr. Rafferty gave me a couple of referrals. I want to use a donor who has blonde hair and blue eyes, like you. Then the baby has the greatest chance of looking like both of us.” JJ grinned at her and leaned in for a kiss.

“I think that’s a great idea.”

***

While all this was happening, Garcia and Hotch were getting ready for Phoebe’s arrival. With Jack’s “help”, they had turned the smallest bedroom in Hotch’s house into a nursery. Garcia picked the theme. The walls were a light pink, accented with a fairy border around at about waist height. The crib was ready. It was Jack’s old crib, so that was one less thing to worry about.

“Jack,” Hotch said one night when there was really no way to put it off any longer. “You know that Pen’s tummy has been getting bigger, right?”

“Yes,” the little boy said, unsure where his father was going with this. Hotch himself wasn’t sure where he was going, so he looked over at Garcia for help.

“Sweetness… I have a baby in my belly,” Garcia said gently. “And this baby is going to be your little sister.”

Jack’s eyes went wide. “How did the baby get in there?” he asked, crawling closer to Garcia and examining what he could see of her stomach. Now it was Garcia’s turn to appeal for help.

“When a man and a lady love each other like we do, sometimes they get to have a baby,” Hotch said after a long pause.

“But how did the baby get in Pen’s tummy?” Jack persisted.

Hotch didn’t particularly want to get into the minutiae of human reproduction with his less-than-five year old son, so he went the easy route. “She grew in there.”

“Oh.” Jack pondered this a moment, then accepted it easily enough. “Can she come out and play?”

“Not for a while yet,” Garcia said. “And when she does, she’ll be very, very small, and she won’t really be able to play. She’ll probably just cry and sleep and eat. But when she grows up a little, she’ll need a big, strong older brother to show her the world.”

“I can do that!” Jack said excitedly. “I’m already a good big brother to Harry!” Then he frowned. “What is the baby’s name?”

“Her name is Phoebe,” Hotch told him, smiling at Garcia. Jack smiled, and tried it out.

“I like how that feels in my mouth,” he declared. “Phoebe. It makes a nice sound. We will be Jack, Harry and Phoebe.”

***

“Mommy, I made you and Mama something at preschool today,” Harrison said proudly. He held out his gift to them – a plaster cast of his handprints. “The teacher said it shows how small my hands are now, so when I’m a big boy like Jamie you can see how much I’ve grown! And she helped me write on it. It says, to Mommy and Mama, I love you, from Harrison.”

Emily was utterly thrown. In some ways, being a parent felt like something she’d been born to do, like she could vaguely remember being a parent in a past life. In other ways, like this way today, it was still so new and completely incredible to her that this tiny person could love her so unconditionally.

In her life before Harrison and JJ, she had often assumed that no one would ever love her with all their heart. She knew she was attractive, and she knew that she could have no limit of one night stands and casual sexual partners if she wanted them, but she had resigned herself to the idea that she wasn’t the kind of person that could be truly loved. Hell, she was convinced that her mother didn’t even love her.

Then JJ had come into her life, and for the first time she had tasted true romantic love. It was a heady, addictive thing, and it had only snowballed. With the addition of Harrison to their little family, she had come to understand the love a parent has for her child. And Harrison had paved the way for Emily to feel her own mother’s love for her – it had always been there, she understood now, but her mother had just not known how to express it.

Harrison truly was a miracle.

In her life before love, a hunk of plaster of Paris with two tiny handprints in it would probably not have meant much to her. If someone had come to her and shown her something similar that their child had made, Emily probably would have smiled politely but not really cared all that much about it. Now Harrison was here, holding out this little misshapen gift that he was so proud of, and Emily wasn’t entirely sure her body was equipped to cope with the fierce love for him that filled her so completely.

Shaking slightly, she set his gift carefully aside, wrapped him in her arms, and cried. “I love you too, sweet baby.”

***

He hadn’t told Strauss what he had seen. He’d chosen instead to bide his time. Too often chances were wasted because prime information like this was given up too soon, instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity. He’d know the opening when he saw it.

In the meantime… he’d been watching the way Jareau and Prentiss behaved around each other at work. He had to hand it to them. If a person didn’t know they were involved, they would certainly never guess it from their professional behavior. If you knew what you were looking for though, it was more obvious. A hand might linger a little too long when passing a file, or a look might be held a fraction too long. And there were times when they would hold little whispered conferences that looked just a little too intimate to be entirely work-related.

He wished he knew what they were saying. “I love you.” “I love you more.” It was probably something stupid and sappy like that.

It would be no good talking to Hotchner about their fraternization. For one thing, Hotchner had been invited to the stupid picnic, so he was probably in on the whole thing. For another, he’d been totally caught up with the computer tech and her ever expanding waistline. At first Bartlett had just assumed that the already curvy woman had been putting on weight, but as the months had passed, the distribution of said weight more obviously suggested pregnancy. Now, just two days ago, Anderson had let it slip that the tech was pregnant to none other than Boss Man Hotchner himself. That was another little tidbit that he was holding on to, waiting for the right time to whisper it in Strauss’s ear.

Who knew? In a couple of months, instead of just scoring an opening on the famed BAU team, he could be running it. He could topple Hotchner and Prentiss, and watch them all fall like skittles as he stood waiting in the wings to take over the team. He’d keep Jareau on. She was far too pretty to cast aside, and if she was sleeping with Prentiss of all people, she’d need a good strong man to set her back on the straight and narrow.

Oh, how beautiful it would be.


	46. Chapter 46

PART 46  
“Anderson! The baby’s coming!” 

Garcia’s panicked yelp shot through the bullpen and Anderson jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over in his haste to help. “What do I do, who do I call?”

“I have to go to the hospital! Call Hotch, and go get a car!” 

Bartlett, sitting at the same desk clump as Anderson, stood and half raised a hand. “I can drive her,” he offered, seeing a chance to ingratiate himself with the higher ups. 

Garcia, however, was in the middle of a particularly strong contraction and as such, had no energy left to be her normal tactful self. “Unghh, I’d rather have my baby on the floor of the bullpen than be in a car alone with yooouuu—ANDERSON! WHERE IS THE CAR?”

That ugly scowl of Bartlett’s was back, full force. Anderson held up a finger, indicating that he was on the phone. “Yes, s-sir? Your um... your Garcia, she’s in labor, she’s... contracting and we’re going to the hospital, and...”

Even through the phone, those listening could hear Hotch snapping into Go-Mode. He barked an order, and Anderson, with shaking hands, handed the phone to Garcia. 

“Hey, honey,” he said in as calm a voice as he could muster up. “We’re so nearly done with the case, so Reid is going to stay behind and motor through the paperwork...”

“Good luck, Garcia!” Reid called in the background. 

“And the rest of the team is packing up to board the jet right now. We’ll be back in less than two hours. Can you hang on for two hours?” 

“I... I think so,” Garcia said. 

“I love you, and I’m going to do everything I can to be there as soon as humanly possible,” Hotch told Garcia. 

Anderson was actually remarkably composed as he drove Garcia to the hospital. His knuckles were white, his underarms sweaty, but despite the periodic screams from the back seat of the SUV, he got Garcia to the hospital in one piece, signed her in, and as the nurse took her to her room, he settled gratefully in a chair to complete the paperwork. Ah, paperwork. Now that, Anderson understood. 

Despite saying he would be two hours, Hotch came running through the doors a little over an hour and a half after he had hung up the phone. The rest of the team, minus Reid, burst in right behind him. Emily followed Hotch up to the admissions desk to demand Garcia’s room number – Anderson noted that Hotch even pulled his badge, out of habit – and JJ ran to Anderson, pulling him out of his seat and into a hug. 

“Good work getting her here so quickly,” she said. Anderson was actually beginning to get used to the hugging, now that he was a regular at the family picnics, so he didn’t blink, just hugged her back. 

“Bartlett wanted to drive her, but Garcia said she’d rather have the baby on the floor...” Anderson was interrupted by JJ’s laughter, joined by Emily’s as she walked up behind them. 

“Nice one Garcia,” Emily remarked. 

Hotch went into Garcia’s room, and the rest of them sat down to wait…

***

Six hours later, Phoebe Hotchner Garcia made her way into the world, with her father’s dark hair, and her mother’s lungs. The BAU – including Reid, who had finished the case paperwork in record time and caught a commercial flight not long after the jet landed – all crowded into the room to see the latest member of the BAU family. 

“Everyone, this is Phoebe,” Hotch said, proudly displaying the tiny pink bundle in his arms. 

“She’s so little,” Morgan said, reaching for the baby. Hotch handed her over carefully, and Morgan held her close. “Look at that, my baby girl had a baby girl. Hey, cutie,” he crooned. “You are so beautiful.” 

“My turn,” Emily said impatiently, taking the baby from Morgan. “Oh wow, Hotch, she looks just like Garcia. Lucky, huh?” She grinned at Hotch, who gave a mock glare. 

“I can’t wait until we have our very own one of these,” JJ whispered into her ear, taking Phoebe from her arms. Emily shivered, but JJ was already cooing at the tiny baby. 

“All right, all right, give the baby back to her mama,” Garcia interrupted, reaching for her daughter. “And all of you, I love you, but I’m exhausted. Get out.” She grinned at the team as they all kissed her and left, JJ handing Phoebe over at the last possible moment. 

***

Back at the BAU, Bartlett was in a foul mood. He slammed his pens around, bashed his keyboard, scowled at anyone who came too close. When the team came back to the office, chattering and joking, Bartlett’s dark mood got even darker. 

“So?” he asked brusquely. “What was it?”

“A baby,” Reid answered, confused. “I thought you understood that Garcia was pregnant.”

Emily and Morgan broke into peals of laughter at Reid’s honest mistake... which only served to make Bartlett more furious. 

“You making fun of me, geek?” he snapped. 

“What? No, I thought...” 

Bartlett cut him off with a punch to the stomach that sent Reid sprawling. “Don’t you ever make fun of me, you weak little shit!” 

Morgan grabbed Bartlett and slammed him up against the wall. “You get your jollies hitting people smaller than you, asshole?” he boomed. 

“No, but I’m gonna get my jollies having you up for assault charges, you overgrown gorilla,” Bartlett smirked. 

“Yes, because there isn’t a bullpen full of agents that saw you throw the first punch,” Emily commented. “Face it, Bartlett. You don’t have a leg to stand on.” 

“We’ll see about that, dyke.” With that, Bartlett wrenched himself free of Morgan’s grasp, and stormed out of the office. 

Morgan helped Reid to his feet. “You wanna report this, kid?” he asked. 

“No,” Reid wheezed. “Someone that volatile is going to self-implode eventually. There’s no need to get myself mired in paperwork to achieve an end that seems inevitable anyway.”

But Emily frowned. How did Bartlett know she was a lesbian? Was it just pique-fueled speculation? Or did Bartlett know something?

***

Morgan told Hotch anyway, but since Hotch was away on leave with Garcia and baby Phoebe, nothing really happened. Bartlett wasn’t warned, pulled in for discipline, or even subjected to the patented Hotch Glare. 

Still, Reid was fine, and Bartlett was still persona non grata with the rest of the BAU team. Emily and JJ felt safe enough to organize another picnic, though they were discreet about making the plans in the office. Most of the communication was conducted via text message. It would be Phoebe’s first family picnic, at just two weeks old, and that made it an even more special occasion. 

Emily had decided not to tell JJ about the comment Bartlett had made to her after the scuffle with Morgan and Reid. There seemed like no sense in worrying her over something that was probably not even an issue. 

Thursday night before the picnic, they put Harrison down and read him a story together as usual. JJ changed into her sleeping clothes, short shorts and a tank, then padded downstairs to join Emily on the couch for some adult time. Emily, already dressed in her pajamas, looked her over appraisingly. 

“You are so sexy,” Emily smirked. JJ struck a pose, and slinked toward her. 

“So are you,” she responded, pushing Emily down on the couch and climbing on top of her. “I have been wanting to do this all day, and I... what the hell!!?” She scrambled off Emily, off the couch, and grabbed for her gun, which was locked in the cabinet by the front door. 

“What?” Instantly alert, Emily retrieved her own gun. 

“There was someone outside the window, looking in at us!” JJ hissed. She didn’t want to raise her voice in case Harrison heard and woke up. 

“I’m going to go and check it out,” Emily declared. “You go check on Harry, make sure he’s still asleep, okay?” 

So while JJ made her way up to Harrison’s room to check that he was still sleeping peacefully – and thankfully, he was – Emily checked out the bottom floor of the house before venturing outside. Briefly, she thought about how silly she must look, in a tank top and underpants and brandishing a gun as she carefully cleared each room. She opened the front door just in time to hear footsteps and a car door slamming before the car pulled away. It was dark, but the streetlights were enough to tell her that the car was a black sedan. 

“Whoever it was has gone,” she called softly up to JJ. “Did you get a good look at them?” 

“It looked like... no, it’s stupid,” JJ said. 

“Tell me what you saw. Don’t just dismiss it. You know what we tell people, any small detail could be significant.”

JJ bit her lip, then looked up at Emily. “I could have sworn it was Bartlett.” 

“I’m calling Hotch.”


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your kind words have inspired me. I know this story has been left hanging for long periods of time, but I always intended to finish it "one day". I went back to school not long after I started writing it, which is why there have been such long downtimes. Your continued support and interest are what keeps me going - because it's one thing to have a story in your heart, but it's another thing entirely to get it onto the page in any sort of coherent fashion. I hope you enjoy this part.
> 
> Furthermore, this part contains the smackdown I have been gleefully awaiting posting. I think you'll like it. When I'm caught up in a good story I react in a very physical way - breath caught in throat, mouth open in a grin, sometimes I even squeal, if the scene is particularly good! I hope some small part of that reaction is inspired in my readers.

PART 47  
“Was it him, are you sure?” 

“Well, no,” JJ admitted. “It could have been, and given his behavior and the fact that we all dislike him so much, I think I’m primed to assume that it was him, but I really didn’t get enough of a good look at the guy to say for sure it was Bartlett.”

“I appreciate your honesty,” Hotch said approvingly. “It’s easy to point the finger. It’s not so easy to admit that you’re fallible.” He paused. “I’m proud of you, JJ.”

JJ pulled him into a hug. For now, at least, he was more Hotch the friend than Hotch the Unit Chief. Perhaps the birth of his daughter had completed the metamorphosis he had begun to undergo when Harrison had joined their family all those months ago. “You know we love you, don’t you?” she murmured into his shoulder. 

“Yes.” And that was it for the emotion. Mellowed he might be, but he was still Hotch. “I’ll have Garcia track Bartlett’s cellphone and find out where he was tonight...” He trailed off, then gave a rueful chuckle. “I’ll have Kevin do it. God, I can’t believe I forgot that she’s home with our daughter.” 

“Speaking of which, don’t think you’re getting out of this house without showing us the latest photos,” Emily piped up. “We know you have them, so cough up!”

Hotch pulled out his phone and did as he was told, sitting on the couch with one woman on either side of him cooing over his darling daughter Phoebe. 

***

But Bartlett wasn’t stupid. He’d known there was a chance the fat geek would track his phone, so he’d left it at home when he’d gone to check out the Prentiss place. For all those assholes knew, he’d been sitting at home with his feet up watching some shit TV. 

Now he had all he needed. 

The next morning he called up to Strauss’s office to schedule a meeting, and miraculously, she had an opening that very morning “if he kept it brief”. He wasn’t worried. He had a feeling that when he dropped the bombs he had on that piece of shit Behavioral Analysis Unit, she wasn’t going to care how much time it took to pick up the pieces – she’d be too busy picking them up. 

***

“They’re sleeping together! Against every single fraternization policy in the book, Prentiss and Jareau are sleeping together. I can’t believe no one’s brought it to your attention before now, but I have proof, I saw it with my own eyes! And I’m pretty sure they’re even LIVING together!”

“You saw Agent Prentiss and Agent Jareau... sleeping together?” Erin Strauss repeated slowly, her expression severe. 

“That’s not all. You know the tech gee... Penelope Garcia, she had a baby recently? Did you know that the father is none other than unit chief Aaron Hotchner?” Bartlett went on. This was so good, it was almost better than sex. He couldn’t believe his luck that he’d been able to meet with Strauss and be the one to bust up those bastards once and for all. It took everything within him to keep from bouncing with glee. 

“Garcia and Hotchner?” 

“Yes.” He sat back in his chair to watch the feathers fly. 

Strauss mirrored his action, sitting back in her chair and tapping her fingers together, looking as if she were deep in thought. “Agent Bartlett, did it occur to you that in order to live together, one or both of them would have to file a change of address form with the bureau – which would have had to go through me to be authorized?” she said at last. 

Bartlett’s face froze. 

“And I realize that I am not exactly the toast of the town down on that floor, but I would like to think that the agents of the BAU do not think I’m that stupid. Agent Hotchner has been in this office multiple times apprising me of the situation with Miss Garcia, including their impending cohabitation, and,” she allowed herself a small smile, “I’ve met their daughter. She really is a beautiful baby.” 

Given that Bartlett hadn’t seen so much as a picture of the Hotchner brat, this remark was particularly galling. 

“But you’re right that I should be concerned, Agent. I just think you are mistaken about the cause of said concern. It does not concern me that two of my agents are in a steady, committed relationship with an adopted child. I have seen no evidence of their situation causing any detriment to their work or to their commitment to the Bureau. In fact, the Prentiss boy being brought home seems to have been the catalyst for the kind of team building that this organization pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to motivational companies to achieve, without coming close to the results the BAU have enjoyed. They are closer than they have ever been, and their solve rate reflects that.” 

She sat up, leaning closer to Bartlett, who had turned white and was gripping the arms of his chair. 

“What does concern me, however, is that you seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time and energy on ‘digging up dirt’ on these people. The fact that you think you have SEEN anything at all tells me that you are looking too hard, and likely in inappropriate ways. I’m here to tell you that none of the agents of the BAU have anything resembling a skeleton in their collective closet – not that I don’t already know about, because they have disclosed it to me of their own accord, out of their own senses of honesty, integrity and duty. You should know that this organization does not look kindly on this kind of malicious muck-raking. I’m afraid that a letter to that effect will be added to your file, Agent Bartlett. Try focusing on your work, instead of on the lives of other agents. I will not entertain another meeting of this nature. Consider this your only warning. You are dismissed.”

On slightly shaky legs, Bartlett rose, nodding to Strauss in a kind of shocked courtesy. 

“Oh and Agent?”

Bartlett looked over, still speechless. 

Strauss stifled a smile. “Should I take this to mean you haven’t been invited to the picnic on Saturday?” 

After he left Strauss’s office, Bartlett went directly down to the gym, where he beat up on a punching bag until his knuckles bled. 

This wasn’t over. Not if he had anything to say about it. 

***

Dressed in a paper gown, Emily sat on the uncomfortable little table and swung her legs idly. All systems were go, so even though the timing wasn’t ideal, given the scare with the prowler the night before, she was here in Dr. Rafferty’s office for the most important doctor’s appointment of her life to date. 

“Is it really a turkey baster?” she asked, only half joking. 

“It’s slightly more sophisticated than a turkey baster,” the doctor laughed. “It’s a syringe, and it’s sterile. I promise, I can count on one hand the number of holiday meals we’ve use it to help baste.” 

Emily burst out laughing, then “assumed the position” as instructed for the doctor to do her thing. 

“So we talked about the chances of this working first time around,” Dr. Rafferty went on. “Let’s be honest, and realistic. You are, if you’ll forgive me, not as young as you used to be, and artificial insemination, while it’s come a long way in the last decade or so, is still a fairly hit and miss thing. We’ve done all we can do, and now we leave the rest up to God, but... Emily, I have to prepare you for the possibility that this may not work.” 

“But there’s a chance it could work, right? I mean, we’re not just fooling ourselves?” Emily asked nervously. 

“I’ve performed this procedure on women who had slimmer odds than you have, and been there at the birth of their babies,” Dr. Rafferty smiled gently. “I just don’t want you to pin your hopes on this when we might have to try more than once.”

“I understand,” Emily said. “I mean it’s not like I thought we were going to do this and I’d pick up a pregnancy test on the way home and have it turn up positive. I’m realistic, I’m just... really hopeful at the same time.” 

***

“Bartlett’s in a foul mood,” Morgan mentioned to Rossi and Reid in passing. “He was away from his desk for about an hour and a half, and when he came back his hands were all bandaged and he had a face like thunder.”

“Could have something to do with the discussion I had with Erin Strauss last night,” Rossi remarked, nonchalantly examining an apple before polishing it on the sleeve of his suit jacket and taking a bite. “Hotch told me about the prowler at the Prentiss place, and I just had a hunch that if it was Bartlett, he was digging for something to ‘get back at us’ for leaving him out.” 

“Really? That would never have occurred to me,” Reid mused. Rossi laughed, and Morgan ruffled the younger man’s hair. 

“We know it wouldn’t, kid,” Morgan chuckled. “But even me, I would have thought it was more about watching two fine looking ladies getting their swerve on, and not about trying to mess with the team. You are some kind of profiler, Rossi. My man.” 

Rossi accepted Morgan’s fist bump before continuing. “Well, I thought it would be a good idea to preempt any bomb dropping he thought he was going to do. It turns out we shouldn’t have worried. The worst he had was that Emily and JJ are together, and that Hotch is the father of Garcia’s baby.” 

“But everyone knew that,” Reid said, still bewildered. 

“Ah, but Bartlett thought Strauss didn’t know,” Rossi clarified. “And obviously she did. So now, he looks like he thinks she’s stupid, which does nothing for his credibility.”

“Still, that’s a lot of anger for just feeling a little stupid,” Morgan said, looking doubtfully over at Bartlett, scowling fiercely at his computer screen. 

“Oh, that. Well, that might be because I invited Erin to the family picnic tomorrow,” Rossi said, finally giving in and laughing. “Bartlett has this idea that Erin is a huge ogre who is hated by everyone on the team, and that we were keeping secrets from her to keep ourselves safe. Now he sees that he can’t get us by running to her.”

No, Bartlett couldn’t get them by running to Strauss. That just meant he would have to come up with something better, something smarter. No one humiliated Denny Bartlett like this and got away with it. 

No one.


	48. Chapter 48

PART 48  
Saturday was sunny, and just as if the Powers that Be had decided to smile down on them, there was no case. The BAU family gathered as usual in the Prentiss back yard. 

“Yum, Uncle Brian’s chicken bobs,” Harrison yelped as Anderson arrived. He ran to help the young agent, carefully and proudly carrying one of the smaller trays inside. Emily watched as she sat on the picnic blanket, cradling baby Phoebe in her arms and crooning down at her. The infant was awake and alert, taking in her surroundings as best she could. 

“She’s so pretty!” Reid said, reaching out to let Phoebe grab his finger. “And she’s strong, too.”

“She’s my sister,” Jack informed him proudly. “Pen lets me give her bottles sometimes. I hold the bottle real careful, so that she only gets milk and no air.” 

Reid nodded seriously. “That sounds like you’re being a big help, Jack. Well done.” 

With a grin Jack stood up and sped off to help Harrison and “Uncle Brian”, who was starting up the barbecue for lunch. 

“This really is the life, isn’t it?” JJ asked. She took Phoebe as Strauss entered the back yard, looking a little uncertain and clutching a dish of potato salad as if it were a lifebelt. “Chief Strauss! Over here!” 

Rossi inviting the woman had been met with a couple of raised eyebrows, but when he had explained his reasoning everyone had thought it was pretty sound. “After all,” Hotch said, “it makes no sense to fight a war on two fronts, when we can make peace with Strauss and concentrate on making sure Bartlett can’t do any damage?”

And so Strauss – Erin – was welcomed cheerfully. Phoebe was placed in her arms the moment she settled herself on the blanket, and Morgan brought her a glass of iced tea and a plate of food, featuring Anderson’s chicken kebabs or “chicken bobs”, as the boys called them. Almost overwhelmed, Erin sat cradling the infant and letting the chatter wash over her. Estranged from her own family, it had been a long time since she had felt like this. When Elizabeth Prentiss arrived, she made a beeline for Erin and settled next to her, taking the baby from her and striking up a conversation immediately. 

Everyone present at the picnic was pleasantly engaged with someone else, chatting or eating or, in the case of the little boys, chasing each other around. Perhaps that was why, in a sea of profilers, no one noticed the dark sedan idling outside the gate. 

Bartlett stepped out of the car and leaned on the gate. “Room for one more?” he called, his voice approaching pleasant. 

Emily was about to respond when Hotch held up a hand, signaling for her to let him handle it. “This is a private party, Bartlett, on private property. Move along.”

“Who’s going to make me?” he said, becoming belligerent. “You gonna get physical with me in front of your boss and your kids?” 

“Mama, who is that man?” Harrison asked, but JJ just scooped him up and grabbed Jack’s hand, taking both boys inside. Garcia took Phoebe from Elizabeth and followed her in. Whatever was about to happen, she did not want to be there for it. 

“This is bullshit,” Bartlett went on, opening the gate but not stepping inside just yet. “You can’t honestly tell me this isn’t a work party when everyone from work is here. You invited Strauss, for fuck’s sake.” 

“But not, as you seem to believe, in an official capacity,” Rossi drawled. “Erin is here as my date.”

“And who invited you, old man?”

“Emily did. After all, I’m like a father to her, which makes me like a grandfather to Harrison.” 

“Uncle,” said Morgan, jerking a thumb at his chest to indicate himself. 

“Uncle,” agreed Reid, following suit, and Anderson did the same a moment later. 

“Grandmother,” Elizabeth said, her face stern but her eyes twinkling with barely suppressed amusement. 

“Aunt,” Hannah giggled as she leaned into Reid’s side, missing the growing look of fury on Bartlett’s face. 

“And another aunt,” Emily said, indicating Strauss, whose cheeks went pink with pleasure in spite of the tense situation. “So as you can see, this is not a work party. It’s very much a family picnic, and you were not invited because you are not part of this family. Your choices at this point are, leave now under your own steam, or leave with the assistance of some of the many strong, gun-toting uncles dotting my back yard.”

“Fuck you, dyke,” Bartlett spat. “It’s a free fucking country. If I want to stand on the sidewalk, I can stand on the sidewalk, and there’s not a goddamn thing you or any of your goons can do about it.” 

Hotch gave the nod, and Rossi, Reid and Morgan stood and advanced on Bartlett. “Except,” Hotch said mildly, “that you’re causing a public disturbance, and the verge outside the gate is still Prentiss property. So you’ll be leaving now, and we’ll discuss this on Monday in my office.”

“You can’t do shit to me. I’m not on work property, not on the clock, not wearing FBI credentials. You can try to throw your authority around all you like, but you and that dyke bitch can’t do shit to stop me.” 

By this time, Morgan and Rossi had reached the gate, and Bartlett, for all his bluster and bravado, wasn’t quite brave enough to stand up to both of them. He got in his car and, after another moment’s yelling obscenities, drove off. 

“That is not the caliber of person we want or need working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Strauss remarked after a long period of shocked silence. 

“For once in a way, Erin, we are in agreement,” Hotch nodded. “Fargo, North Dakota?”

“Fargo is still staffed by people who deserve to be agents. For the last two days I have listened to that man spewing hate and accusations for no reason that I can understand. We as an organization need to be seen by the public as efficient and goal oriented, but also as human, as respectful and tolerant. There is no place in the Bureau for a man like Bartlett. On Monday morning, I will process his instant dismissal.” 

“That,” Emily said, still a little shocked, “calls for dessert. One banana split for Chief Strauss, coming right up!”

Seeing that the confrontation was over, JJ and Penelope brought the kids back out. “Daddy, who was that man?” Jack wanted to know. 

Hotch glanced at Emily, then took Jack’s hand and walked him away from the group before crouching down beside his son. “That was a bad man who said some very bad things about our friend Emily,” he said finally. 

“It’s not nice to say bad things!” Jack exclaimed. “What did he say?”

“You understand that some people have a mommy and a daddy who love each other, and some people like Harrison have two mommies who love each other?”

“Yeah?” Jack replied. 

“Some people don’t think it’s a very good thing for a lady to love a lady. That man called Emily a very bad word, just because she loves JJ. But Jack, love is never, ever wrong, no matter who you love.” Tactfully, Hotch left out mentions of stalking or pedophilia, knowing those discussions could come when Jack was a little older. “It’s never okay to say bad things about someone, but especially when it’s about something they can’t help, like the color of their skin or how much they weigh, or who they love. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Daddy.” With that, the little talk was over, and Jack ran back over to the main group and threw his arms around Emily’s waist. She picked him up and hugged him. “I love you Emily,” Jack told her seriously, and kissed her cheek. 

The picnic might have broken up then if not for Jack’s simple act of love and acceptance. Gradually the good mood that had dissipated at Bartlett’s entrance crept back in until it was as if he had never been there. 

***

One beer took the edge off. Three beers made things look a little better, and the sixth beer brought with it inspiration. Grabbing a duffel bag from under his bed, Bartlett looked through the contents, his fury rising. 

How dare they speak to him that way? How DARE they?

They would learn. They would all learn. If anyone got to have the last word, it would not be those stuck up assholes at the BAU, or that wrinkled old crone Strauss. It certainly wouldn’t be Hotch the Statue, or Prentiss the Dyke, or Jareau the Cock Tease. No, the last word would be had by Dennison Grant Bartlett.


End file.
